St. Peter, His Name and His Office, as Set Forth in Holy Scripture

by T. W. Allies

S. Luke refers specially in two passages to the descent of the Holy Ghost, as being Himself as well the Divine "Gift," and the immediate worker of all graces in man, as the principle of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. "And I send the promise of My Father upon you, but stay you in the city till you be endued with power from on high." And again, "Eating together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard," saith He, "by My mouth; for John, indeed, baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." "You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth."

The form recorded by S. John is, "As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you. When He had said this, He breathed on them; and He said to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."[7]

Now, it may be remarked that these passages of the several evangelists are identical in their force; that is, they each convey all those powers which constitute the Apostolate. These are received by all the Apostles in common, and together; and in the joint possession of them consists that equality which is often attributed by the ancient writers to the Apostles, as notably by S. Cyprian, "He gives to all the Apostles an equal power, and says, 'as the Father sent Me, I also send you.'" And again, "Certainly the other Apostles also were what Peter was, endued with an equal fellowship, both of honour and power."[8]

And these Apostolic powers, legislative, judicial, and executive, are afterwards referred to as exercised; as in Acts ch. xv., where the first council passes decrees which bind the Church, nay, which go forth in the joint name of the Holy Ghost, and the rulers of the Church, "It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us;"—which are delivered by S. Paul to the cities to be kept: Acts xvi. 4—as in Acts xx. 28, where bishops are charged to rule the Church, each over his flock, wherein the Holy Ghost has placed him—as in 1 Cor. v. 1-5, where S. Paul, "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," excommunicates—as in 2 Cor. x. 6, where he sets forth his apostolic power—as in the Epistles to Titus and Timothy, where he sets them in authority, enjoins them to ordain priests in every city, and commands them to "reprove," or "rebuke."

And all these powers S. Peter, of course, as one of the Twelve, had received in common with the rest. The limit to them would seem to lie in their being shared in common by twelve; as, for instance, universal mission dwelling in such a body must practically be determined and limited somehow to the different members of that body, or one would interfere with the other. But there is nothing in these powers which answers to the images of "the rock," on which the Church is built, the single "bearer of the keys," and "confirmer" of his brethren, which Christ had appropriated to one Apostle.

In like manner, then, as our Lord fulfilled His promises to the Twelve, so did He those to S. Peter, and we find written the committal of an authority to him exactly answering to these images; an authority, which expresses the full legislative, judicial and executive power of the head, which can be executed by one alone at a time, and is of its own nature supreme, and responsible to none save God. It remained for our Lord to find an image setting forth all this as decisively as that of the Rock, the Bearer of the keys, and the Confirmer of his brethren.

Once, as He passed along the shores of the lake of Galilee, He had seen two fishermen casting their net into the sea, and had "said to them, Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men, and immediately leaving their nets, they followed Him." Once again, too, He had gone into the ship of that same fisherman, and sitting, taught the multitudes out of it. And then He bade that fisherman, "who had laboured all the night and taken nothing, to launch out into the deep," and in faith, "let down his nets for a draught," whereupon "he enclosed so great a multitude of fishes that the net brake."[9] And, again, in after times, when the fisherman had become an Apostle, that same ship waited on His convenience, and carried Him across the lake. It was there He was asleep when the storm raged, and His disciples in little faith awoke Him, saying, "Master, save us, we perish," not yet knowing that the ship which carried the Lord might be tost, but could not sink.[10] From it they beheld Him walking on the sea, in the fourth watch of the night, when Peter, in his fervour, desired to join Him, and going to meet his Lord on the waves, his faith failed him, and he began to sink, till the Almighty hand supported him, and drew him with it to the ship, which "presently was at the land to which they were going."[11] And now, Peter, and Thomas, and Nathaniel, and the sons of Zebedy, and two others, were once more on that same ship and sea, but no longer with Him who had commanded the winds, and walked on the waves. Once more, too, they[12] toiled all the night, but "caught nothing:" when, lo, in the morning light, Jesus stood on the shore, but yet unknown to them, and bade them cast the net on the right side of the ship, "and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes." Thus He revealed Himself to them, and invited them to eat with Him of the fishes which they had caught. "Then Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred fifty-three. And although there were so many, the net was not broken:" for, indeed, that draught of great fishes, gathered by Peter at Christ's command, betokened God's elect, whom the Church is to gather out of the sea of this world, who cannot break from the net, which net, therefore, Peter drew to land, even the everlasting shore whereon Christ welcomes His own. And after that marvellous banquet of the disciples with their Lord, betokening the never ending marriage feast, wherein "the roasted fish is Christ in His passion,"[13] our Lord proceeds to crown all that series of distinctions, wherewith, since imposing the prophetic name, He had marked out Simon, the son of Jonas, to be the Leader of His disciples; and thus He fulfils by the side of the lake of Galilee what He foreshadowed when He first looked upon Peter, what He promised in the quarters of Cesarea Philippi, and what He repeated on the eve of His passion.

It was His will to appoint one to take His place on earth. Now He had assumed to Himself specially a particular title, under which of old time His prophets had foretold His advent among men, and which above all others expressed His tender love for fallen man. It had been said of Him, "I will set up one shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even my servant David: He shall feed them, and He shall be their shepherd." And again: "Say to the cities of Judah, behold your God.—He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather together the lambs with His arm, and shall take them up in His bosom, and He Himself shall carry them that are with young." And, once more, in the very prophecy by which the chief priests and scribes declared to Herod that He must be born at Bethlehem, "For from thee shall go forth the ruler, who shall feed (or shepherd) My people Israel." Appropriating these predictions to Himself, the Lord had said: "I am the good shepherd.[14] The good shepherd giveth His life for His sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." And now it was His pleasure to give this particular title, so specially His own, to Peter, and to Peter alone, and to Peter in most marked contrast even with the best beloved of His other disciples, and to Peter, thrice repeating the charge, and varying the expression of it so as to include the term in its utmost force. "When, therefore, they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than these? He saith to Him, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to him, Feed My lambs. He saith to him again, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me? He saith to Him, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to him, Feed My lambs. He saith to him the third time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me? Peter was grieved because He had said to him the third time, lovest thou Me? And he said to Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things: Thou knowest that I love Thee. He said to him, Feed My sheep."

Our Lord had before addressed the seven disciples present in common, "Children, have you any meat?" "Cast the net, and you shall find." "Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught." "Come and dine." But now, turning to one in particular, He singles him out in the most special manner, by his name, by asking of him a love greater than that of any others towards Himself, by conferring on him a charge, which, as we shall see, from its extension excludes its being held in joint possession by any other, and by a prophecy concerning the manner of his death, which is wholly particular to Peter. If it is possible by any words to convey a power and a charge to a particular person, and to exclude the rest of the company from that special power and charge, it is done here.

But, secondly, it is a charge of a very high and distinguishing nature indeed, for our Lord before conferring it demands of Peter, as a condition, greater love towards His own person than that felt for Him by any of the Twelve—even by the sons of Zebedy, whom from their zeal He surnamed Boanerges, sons of thunder—even by the disciple whom He loved, and who lay on His breast at the last supper. What must that charge be, the preliminary condition for which is a greater love for Jesus than that of the beloved disciple? What shall be a fitting sequel to "Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these?" What, again, the importance of that office, in bestowing which our Lord thrice repeats the condition, and thrice inculcates the charge? The words of God are not spoken at random, nor His repetitions without effect. What, again, are the subjects of the charge? They are "My lambs," and "My sheep," that is, the fold itself of the Great Shepherd. As He said, "If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with Me," so those who are not either His lambs or His sheep, form no part of His fold. Others, too, in Holy Writ, are addressed as shepherds, but with a limitation, as, "Take heed to the whole flock wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops," or "feed the flock of God which is among you." And, more largely far it was said, "Go ye, therefore, and make disciples all nations;" and "Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature."[15] But they to whom this was said were yet themselves sheep of the Great Shepherd, and in committing the world to them, He did not commit them to each other. Whereas here, they too, as His sheep, are committed to one, even Peter; and very expressly, in the persons of James and John, and the rest present, "lovest thou Me more than these?" A particular flock is never termed absolutely and simply "the flock," or "the flock of God," but "the flock which is among you," "in which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops." And, again, the Apostles are sent in common to the whole world, to preach to all nations, and to form one flock; but they are twelve, and "power given to several carries its restriction in its division, whilst power given to one alone and over all, and without exception, carries with it plenitude, and, not having to be divided with any other, it has no bounds save those which its terms convey."[16] What are the terms here? "Feed," and "be shepherd over" or "rule" "My lambs and My sheep." The terms have no limit, save that of salvation itself. Such, then, are the persons indicated as subjects of this charge. But what is the nature of the charge? Two different words of unequal extent and force in the original, but both rendered "feed" in the translation, convey this. One means "to give food" simply, the other, of far higher and nobler reach, embraces every act of care and providence in the government of others, under an image the farthest removed from the spirit of pride and ambition. Such is even its heathen meaning, and the first of poets termed Agamemnon by this word, "Shepherd of the people." By this word, S. Paul, and S. Peter[17] himself, express the power of the bishop over his own flock. And so our Lord, here instituting the Bishop of Bishops, the one Shepherd of the one fold, gives to Peter over all his flock, the very word given to Him in the famous prophecy, "Thou, Bethlehem, the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall rule My people Israel:" the very word, which used of Himself in Psalm ii. to express all His power and dominion, in His revelation to S. John, is spoken of His own triumphant career, as the Word of God going forth to battle, "He shall rule them with a rod of iron;" and, again, in the same book is applied by Himself to set forth the honour which He will give "to him that shall overcome and keep My works unto the end."[18] Thus, just as in the persons pointed out, the subject of this charge is universal, so in the terms by which it is expressed, the nature of the power is supreme. What the bishop is to his own flock, Peter is made to "the flock of God:" and this at once, in the most simple, as well as in the most absolute and emphatic manner, by institution from the chief Shepherd Himself, at the close of His ministry, and by associating Peter singly with Himself in His most distinctive title. If the fold of Christ is equivalent to "the Church of Christ," and "the kingdom of heaven," so to feed and to rule the lambs and the sheep of that fold is equivalent to being "the Rock" of that Church, and "the Bearer of the keys," as well as the First, the Greater one, and the Ruler in that kingdom of heaven.