August 23, 2026 – 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year “A”
Isaiah 22:19–23; Romans 11:33–36; Matthew 16:13–20
H O M I L Y
The passage from the prophet Isaiah that we heard as the first reading was not chosen at random. It helps us understand the question Jesus posed to his disciples. This text was most likely written at a time prior to the first deportation of the people of Jerusalem.
In the early 6th century B.C., the Babylonian Empire sought to bring all the small kingdoms under its authority and to control all the tribes scattered throughout what is known as the “Fertile Crescent.” Jerusalem was simply one more fortress to be subdued. Faced with an attempted rebellion, the Babylonian Empire exiled all the most prominent members of society to various cities in Mesopotamia in 597 B.C. This was a severe blow to the royal family, which considered itself immovable. Isaiah’s prophecy is addressed to the entire ruling class, which claimed for itself the importance and honor of belonging to the king and had turned the keys to the palace into a symbol of its growing power. The prophet Isaiah announces that these keys will pass to another, and that this entire system, founded on the exploitation of the people, will collapse.
In Jesus’ time, the entire Jewish people were awaiting a Messiah who would restore David’s political kingdom and his authority over other nations. Jesus refuses to respond to this expectation. His mission is different. That is why, in the midst of his journey to Jerusalem—after having spent a considerable amount of time training his disciples—he one day takes them outside Jewish territory, to the region of Caesarea, the city that Philip had built in honor of Emperor Augustus. And it is there, outside of Israel, that he asks them what people are saying about the “Son of Man”—that is, about Him. But what truly interests him is hearing the answer from his disciples: “And you, who do you say that I am?”
La question est posée à tous les disciples et c’est au nom de tous que Pierre répond. Dans le même récit, qu’on trouve aussi dans les Évangiles de Marc et de Luc, la réponse de Pierre est « Tu es le Messie » ou « le Messie de Dieu ». Dans l’Évangile de Matthieu la réponse est plus élaborée : « Tu es le Messie, le Fils du Dieu vivant ». Le « Fils de l’Homme » est donc le « Fils de Dieu ». C’est le « Dieu parmi nous », l’« Emmanuel » selon le titre donné à Jésus dès le début de l’Évangile de Matthieu. Et la mention du « Dieu vivant » oppose aux idoles sans vie le Dieu vivant qui donne la vie et qui vaincra de la mort.
Since Peter spoke on behalf of all the disciples, Jesus is addressing all of them when He speaks to Peter. The profession of faith that Peter expressed is the rock upon which Jesus will build His Church, of which Peter himself is a member. It should be noted that in the Greek text, the word “stone” is rendered by two different terms that are not synonyms. Petros (in “you are ‘Peter’”) refers to a stone that can be moved and even thrown. But petra (in “on this rock”) means a solid, immovable rock. This rock upon which Jesus will build his Church is not the person of Peter, but his profession of faith, made on behalf of all the disciples. Jesus likewise uses two images to describe his Church. First, that of the house built on the rock, against which the power of death will have no hold; and second, that of the keys—that is, the authority given to the community to admit into its midst those who seek salvation and to exclude those who reject it. These “keys” should not be understood as a personal power of Peter over the Church, but rather as a power of the Church represented by Peter. The First Vatican Council understood this well when it did not define papal infallibility as an individual prerogative but stated that the Pope, when speaking ex cathedra, exercises “the infallibility that Christ has given to his Church.”
And when Jesus commands his disciples not to tell anyone that he is the Messiah, he is obviously not forbidding them from professing their faith as Peter has just proclaimed on their behalf, but rather forbidding them from presenting him as the Messiah in the way the people were expecting. He does not come with royal power but with the humility of a servant.
The question that Jesus poses to his disciples in this Gospel account, he also poses to each one of us. For us, who is Jesus? It is through a faith that is lived out and committed—more than through words—that we can answer this question.
Armand Veilleux