10.07.25 | Salt Light 10 Lepers Peter Rock Church

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Opening Prayer            

Heavenly Father

We come together tonight to learn, to grow and to change.

We lay our lives down before you and ask that you move amongst us.

Stir up our thoughts and grant us the wisdom and grace to love and forgive like You.

And as you taught us to pray together…

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. 

Upcoming major holy days:   November 1, All Saints Day

Today’s Agenda

1.     Gospel Reflection: The meaning of Salt & Light (Mt 5:13-16)

2.     Gospel Reading #1: Jesus Proclaims the Founding of His Church,  Matthew 16:13-23

3.     Gospel Reading for 28^th Sunday in Ord Time Oct 12: The Grateful Leper, Luke 17:11-19

Reflection:  Another Jewish holiday began last night and runs for 7 days: SUKKOT – The Feast of Tabernacles. What is it?

            Remember, “tabernacle” originally meant “tent.” During the 40 years in the desert, the Israelites lived in tents. This period of time was not easy but God sustained them throughout. The Feast of Tabernacles looks back to those days and in fact, many Jews today build tents and live in them for this 7-day period.   

Reflection                                                          

Matthew 5:13-16: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

What does this mean – Salt & Light?

Jesus sends his disciples on a grand but difficult mission. As members of the Mystical Body of Christ, we also share this mission.

In accord with the subjectivism of our culture, many Christians think of their spiritual lives in an individualist way, as the cultivation of a personal friendship with God. But this overlooks something that the New Testament authors took for granted—namely, that Christians exist not for themselves but for the world. It’s interesting how Jesus explains this.

Salt.  Jesus compared his followers to salt. Salt was used to preserve foods (there was no refrigeration) and also to enhance or bring out flavor in foods. Notice that the entire purpose of salt was for other than itself – to preserve and enhance something else. Likewise, Jesus is telling Christians to be like salt – not to exist for ourselves but to preserve souls and bring out the best in others.

Light. Jesus also compared us to light. Once again, light does not exist for itself but to allow others to see. When we have the light of Christ in us – full of truth and love – we live differently. Jesus says don’t put your light under a basket but put it on a lampstand to give light to the world.  

Jesus means to for us to ask ourselves: How are we like salt and light? When we stand before God on the last day, He will ask whether we have stepped outside ourselves to love, give, forgive, praise God, and revere the truth.

So, let’s ask ourselves: How much are we doing that’s not for ourselves?

Context for Gospel #2: Peter’s Profession of the Christ and Jesus Proclaims the Founding of His Church…

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi…

Caesarea Philippi – about 20 miles north of the Sea of Galilee – was a name given by Herod the Great (included a Roman temple) in honor of the Roman Emperor. This region was the northernmost boundary of the Promised Land at the time of David and Solomon. These would have been part of the lost 10 tribes of Israel after the Assyrian conquest; however, the prophecies said the Messiah would gather all the people back to the Lord. Thus, Jesus is preaching in all these territories.

Mt. 16:13-23

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Exegesis

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.

This is the first explicit revelation given to the Apostles that Jesus is both Messiah and the Son of God. Jesus used Peter’s inspired response as his time to announce both the Church and Peter’s role in it.  “And so I say to you… you are Peter…”

    “…you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”

Jesus renames Simon as Peter. Why?

            A change in the name of a servant of God signifies a change in destiny, as in Abram's name change to Abraham and Jacob’s name to Israel. Peter in Aramaic means “rock.” In the Old Testament, "rock" was a word used to describe Abraham as the physical father from whom the children of Israel were hewn (Isaiah 51:1-2). Likewise, Jesus uses the word as a personal name signifying a change in Simon's destiny as the leader and foundation "rock" of Jesus' Church.  

“… and the gates of the netherworld (Hades) shall not prevail against it.”

This refers to the “abode of the dead” – Jesus promises that His Church will not die. In fact, his Church will eventually overcome death itself at the end of the age. 

“I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

What does Jesus mean by the 1) the keys to the Kingdom and 2) binding/loosing?

1)     In ancient times, the #2 person in charge ran the affairs of the kingdom, with titles like Chief Steward or Minister. In more contemporary times, we would refer to this position as the Prime Minister or Chancellor. To give the “keys to the kingdom” mean to give control over the day-to-day affairs. This is what Jesus is doing with Peter. He is elevating him to Chief Minister over the other Apostles (Ministers) of the Church. Pope was just an adaptation of the endearing name for father, papa. We also call the Pope the Vicar of Christ. Vicar means representative (it’s where we get the word vicarious). So Vicar of Christ means the Pope is Christ’s earthly representative.

2)     Bound and loose… let’s look back to similar wording used in Isaiah 22. Open and shut mean the same thing:

I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one will shut; what he shuts, no one will open. – Isaiah 22:22 

                  “Bind and loose” refer to the forgiveness of sins, which Jesus confirms on Easter Sunday (John 20:23), along with the teaching and interpretation of Scripture.

Why do Protestants think Peter wasn’t given authority over the Church?

            Protestants hold that Jesus wasn’t referring to Peter when he said, “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church.” Let’s examine this argument. 

Remember, Peter’s name was Simon up to this point, and Jesus changes it to Rock – the name Peter means “rock.”  The Gospel, which was written in Greek, uses the word “petros” – which is Greek for rock.  

The verse in Greek says, “You are Petros, and upon this Petra I will build my Church.”

1500 years after Christ, the Protestants say, hold on, the two words are different. Petros means pebble (tiny rock) and Petra means Rock – a true rock; so this means Peter is a pebble (basically a nobody), and the Church will be a rock built on Christ.

Now, we all agree the Church is founded on Christ. Jesus wasn’t saying it was founded on Peter, he said, “upon this rock I will build MY Church.” He was simply saying that Peter (his position) will be the earthly head of the Church.

As for Peter being a nobody, it’s hard to understand why Jesus would belittle him after he honors him in this statement:

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.”

Then why do we have a Greek translation problem?

The truth is that although the New Testament was written in Greek, it was first spoken in Aramaic (a kind of Hebrew slang that all Jews spoke). The NT was only written in Greek because it was meant to be read by the whole world, and Greek was the universal/commercial language at the time.

So, then, what is the word in Aramaic?

There is only one word for rock in Aramaic and it is “Cephas” or “Kephas.” So the verse in Aramaic would read:

“And so I say to you, you are Cephas and upon this Cephas I will build my Church.”   

Okay, great, last question: Is there any good reason for two different Greek spellings for rock, Petros and Petra?

Yes. A little study of the Greek language reveals that “pebble” was from an archaic form of Greek that was no longer spoken at the time of Jesus. In Jesus’ time, there was a spelling difference, but it was because of the word’s gender.

If we return to the Greek version, it says: “You are Petros, and upon this Petra I will build my Church.” 

Petros is the male gender of rock, and Petra is the female gender of rock. “Petros” is only appropriate to use for Peter because he was a man. Petra is female, which is how we refer to the Church, the bride of Christ.

What was the first written instance we have of the “Bishop of Rome” having authority over the other Christian bishops/ churches? Note: “written” does not mean the first instance of something; it usually implies that the practice was already in place for some time and the writing mentions it in passing.  

Answer: Pope St. Clement of Rome in his Letter to the Corinthians in 96AD, where he warned them to respect the office of the Bishop and against thinking they could create their own leadership. Clement was a disciple of St. Peter.    

Catholic is Greek for “universal.” What was the first written reference to use the term “Catholic Church”?

St. Ignatius of Antioch in his Epistle to the Smyrnaeans in 107 AD. Ignatius was a disciple of St. John.

“Where the bishop appears, there let the people be, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”

Chair of Peter. The term “Chair of Peter” replaces the Jewish “Chair of Moses” that the referred to the authority of the Chief Priest. The Chair of Peter is a symbol of the apostolic authority that Christ gave to Peter and that is handed down to his successors, the Bishops of Rome. Notice the sling holding Peter’s arm that has the keys.

It is strange in appearance, but profound in meaning. The sling is a reminder of human weakness. The weight of the keys of Peter is far too great to be borne by mortal strength; the pope must rely on the divine aid that Christ promised to His Vicar on earth. It is the Holy Spirit that guides the hand that holds the keys, not any human ability.

Sunday’s Gospel Reading: The Grateful Leper, Luke 17:11-19

Context: Sometime this parable is called the “Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers,” but since only one of the ten lepers comes back to thank Jesus, it is sometimes just called the “The Grateful Leper.”

Jesus is still enroute to Jerusalem for the last time. Now he comes to a town that borders Samaria, and of course the one grateful leper turns out to be Samaritan. Remember, Jews didn’t consider Samaritan’s worthy – their history was one of mixed blood with the Assyrians from their conquest in 722BC, and they also had their own temple at Mt. Gerizim.  

As he is about to enter the town, 10 lepers call out to him from a distance. What protocol are the lepers following?

Leprosy was dangerous and contagious. Lepers were required to remain outside of town, cover their mouths when speaking, and maintain a safe distance from everyone. Leprosy was a lonely, painful, short-lived existence, cut off from family, friends, and even the synagogue.  

Luke 17:11-19

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.

As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have mercy on us!"

And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests."

As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.

Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"

Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."

Exegesis                                           

The lepers cry out to Jesus asking for mercy. Mercy is one of the main expectations of God’s coming to humanity.

What does Jesus tell them and why?

Jesus tells them to be obedient to the Law and show themselves to a priest. Jesus follows all the laws except when they contradict mercy, such as when he healed people on the Sabbath.

The ten lepers head off to see the priests. Presumably all of them were healed, but only the Samaritan leper returns in gratitude to thank Jesus. BTW, the Samaritan is the one leper who would not be welcomed at the Jerusalem Temple. A Samaritan would have to go to his own priest, whom the Jews did not recognize as legitimate.

The Samaritan’s act of prostrating himself at Jesus' feet and giving thanks is a sign that he acknowledges Jesus as an agent of God. In "giving thanks," the Greek word that Luke uses is eucherestein. Who recognizes this word? 

This is the verb form of the noun that gives us the word "Eucharist." The same word will used by Jesus when he holds up the bread and wine at the Last Supper.

Jesus judges the Samaritan’s cry of gratitude and glorifying God as evidence of his conversion and tells him: "stand up and go; your faith has saved you."  This is the fourth time in Luke’s Gospel that Jesus uses this phrase to conclude a healing (the sinful woman in Lk 7:50; the hemorrhaging woman in Lk 8:48; and the blind beggar in Lk 18:42).

I occasional get asked this: If Jews and Samaritans are enemies, why is there a Samaritan leper among the Jewish lepers?

            It appears that in the common tragedy of their leprosy, perhaps they had forgotten they were Jews and Samaritans and only remembered they were men in desperate need. A sage once put it this way: If a flood surges over a piece of country and the wild animals congregate for safety on some little bit of higher ground, you will likely find animals who are natural enemies standing peacefully together when at any other time they would do their best to kill each other. Surely one of the things which should draw all men together is their common (desperate?) need of God.

Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?

All ten lepers were indeed cured, but only the Samaritan leper returned to thank Jesus, and it is to him that Jesus adds, “Your faith has made you well.” The other nine continued on their way without turning back.

We must remember that Jesus’ healing is not just physical. In fact, the physical healing is the least form of healing, for it is temporal. The greater work is the forgiveness of sins and renewal of the heart; even in this life, spiritual healing brings clarity, wisdom, and the grace to live a righteous life. Therefore, the nine who did not return missed out on one of the greatest events of their lifetimes.

This story is another positive example where Jesus uses an outsider who is a Samaritan (other: Good Samaritan). There are no accidents. What might Jesus’ message be? 

            1) Love your enemies, and 2) Jesus came to save everyone.

There is another lesson in this story. What is it?

Through the big emphasis on the Samaritan’s gratitude, Jesus teaches us that faith and thanksgiving are inseparable. If you ever feel your faith is weak, check your gratitude. Any good therapist knows that the one of the greatest healing methods in existence is practicing gratitude. People start gratitude journals for its healing properties. Notice that gratitude requires humility (Jesus’ favorite virtue) because it forces us to take our eye off ourselves. Humility-Gratitude-Faith!  

Finally, are there any Old Testament stories you can think of that point to Jesus’ story with the lepers?

            Yes, the prophet Elisha heals Naaman, the Syrian army commander who had leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-19), ~ 825 BC. Let’s see if there are similarities:

o   Both the Samaritan and Naaman are foreigners.

o   Elisha heals Naaman in the name of Yahweh. Jesus heals in his own name.

o   Elisha tells Naaman he must wash in the Jordan River 7 times. Jesus heals with just his words.

o   Elisha heals one person. Jesus heals ten, which is a biblical number of fulfillment.

Closing Prayer:

Act of Love

O my God, I love Thee above all things with my whole heart and soul

because Thou art all good and worthy of all love.

I love my neighbor as myself for love of Thee.

I forgive all who have injured me, and I ask pardon for all whom I have injured.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed are thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death. 

Amen.