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Q: In the Gospel\u2019s account of Peter\u2019s confession of Christ, Jesus responded with: \u201cYou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.\u201d I sometimes wonder if it wouldn\u2019t have been better if Jesus would have skipped the wordplay and simply said: \u201cPeter, I\u2019m making you the first head of my Church.\u201d The verse as is, seems subject to a lot of interpretation. When I was Protestant we all said that the verse implied that the Church would be built on a general confession of Christ, and Peter\u2019s was but one example. Could you comment? (Indiana)<\/strong><\/p>\n A: I have to admit that my first thought upon reading your question was that if Jesus, the Incarnate Word, appreciates a good pun, then who are we to complain?<\/p>\n But more seriously, of course I don\u2019t know exactly why Jesus decided to describe St. Peter\u2019s vocation as the first pope in exactly the way that he did. I will note, however, that in the Gospels Jesus does seem to be rather fond of using poetic imagery \u2014 even when he must have known that some would misunderstand him.<\/p>\n For example, after Jesus angrily cleanses the temple in Chapter 2 of St. John\u2019s Gospel, he tells the offended Jewish leaders: \u201cDestroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.\u201d This apparently went completely over the leaders\u2019 heads, as they responded with: \u201cThis temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?\u201d The evangelist himself has to explain to the readers that Jesus \u201cwas speaking about the temple of his body\u201d as a way of foretelling his future death and resurrection.<\/p>\n Similarly, in Chapter 16 of St. Matthew\u2019s Gospel, Jesus\u2019 \u201cwordplay\u201d confuses even the apostles who were right there with him. As we read: \u201cIn coming to the other side of the sea, the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus said to them, \u2018Look out, and beware of the leaven\u2019 of the Pharisees and Sadducees.\u2019 They concluded among themselves, saying, \u2018It is because we have brought no bread’\u201d (Mt 16:5-7).<\/p>\n In the following verses, Jesus seems to be a bit exasperated with his apostles\u2019 lack of insight, and reminds them that he is perfectly capable of creating all the bread they might need, as was evident in his recent miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes. It is only after Jesus patiently walks them through all this that the disciples \u201cunderstood that he was not telling them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees\u201d (Mt 16:12).<\/p>\n My own personal guess about why Jesus would often communicate through metaphors rather than explicit statements is that metaphors tend to carry a deeper emotional resonance that can \u201cstick with us\u201d longer and help us appreciate the truth on a deeper level.<\/p>\n If Jesus had merely said something like: \u201cSimon son of John, I\u2019m making you the first head of my Church; now let\u2019s talk about the scope of your governing responsibilities\u201d in a very technical and cut-and-dried way, I\u2019m sure that still would have been very interesting to people like biblical scholars.<\/p>\n But the fact that Jesus calls Peter the rock on which he will build his Church \u2014 changing his name to actually mean \u201crock\u201d \u2014 communicates a much more profound sense of leadership and firm foundation. St. Peter and his ministry as the \u201crock\u201d that supports the structure of the Church is a much more meaningful and beautiful image that the average praying Catholic can meditate on fruitfully.<\/p>\n But even beyond this, since we as Catholics understand the truths of our faith to be revealed not only through Scripture alone, but also through sacred tradition, Jesus must have known that he didn\u2019t need to spell out his message for the benefit of future Christians. That is, the authoritative interpretation of his words would have been handed down across the generations of faithful Catholics.<\/p>\n Jenna Marie Cooper, who holds a licentiate in canon law, is a consecrated virgin and a canonist whose column appears weekly at OSV News. Send your questions to CatholicQA@osv.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n