21st Sunday of Ordinary Time (Jesus, The Builder)

When I teach about the sacraments, such as Baptism or the Eucharist, seeking to help us understand what they are, I believe it’s important to ask: What is God’s purpose for this sacrament? Why is he giving it to me? How does he intend it to bear effect in me?

These questions came to mind as I prayed over the Gospel we hear today, specifically where Jesus says, “Upon this rock I will build my church”. I remember hearing a lecture by biblical scholar Dr. Tim Gray in which he zeroed-in on those words where Jesus says that he will build. It means that Jesus is a builder.[1] To be a builder infers intentionality, planning and action. We think of Jesus as a carpenter, but this is something else. “Upon this rock I will build my church”.

          When we think about figures in biblical history who are builders, perhaps the person most stands out is Solomon, who built the first Temple, and built it on a rock. What I mean is that 2 Chronicles tells us that he built it in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah (2 Chr 3:1). But in addition to being a builder, Solomon was revered for having been wise. All this calls to mind words that Jesus said earlier in Matthew’s Gospel: “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock” (Mt 7:24).

The Temple served as the center for Judaism for about 1000 years, including the period between the destruction of the first Temple and the building of the second. It was their spiritual and liturgical center, the embodiment of God’s presence with them, and remained as such in and throughout Jesus’ lifetime.

Jesus says that he is going to build a new temple—specifically, a church. But unlike the Temple, he will not build it in a specific location nor on an actual rock, like Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Instead, it will be built on a person: "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.…I say to you, you are Peter—petros, which in Greek, means “rock”—and upon this rock I will build my church…” Jesus intends to build a new Temple to both spread and represent his kingdom on earth. The Old Covenant had a Temple. The New Covenant will also have a temple, though a very different sort.

In his lecture, Dr. Gray references a renaissance painting by the artist Pietro Perugino, a painting commonly referred to as Delivery of the Keys, which is displayed on an interior wall of the Sistine Chapel. Perhaps the most significant purpose of the Sistine Chapel is that it serves as the place where the papal conclave convenes in order to elect a successor to Peter. Various artists were commissioned to decorate the chapel’s walls, and later, Michaelangelo was commissioned to paint the only surface that remained unpainted: the ceiling.

Perugino’s painting was completed in 1482, so its elements look much more like renaissance Italy than they do first-century Israel. In the foreground of the image, at the center, one sees Peter, kneeling before Jesus, receiving the keys. Then, above and to the back of the image is an octagonal temple with a golden dome. What’s that? The Temple in Jerusalem never looked like that! Perugino had seen sketches of the structure that stood where the Temple had once been. Today we know that structure as the Dome of the Rock and it still stands on the Temple mount: octagonal in structure and topped with a gold dome.

Aside from this curiosity, considering that what we hear in today’s Gospel occurred far north in Caesarea Philippi, why would Perugino place the handing over of the keys at the Temple in Jerusalem? He intentionally placed Jesus, builder of the new temple, directly in front of the old Temple—the old giving way to the new. Every time the papal conclave gathers to elect the next successor to Peter, Perugino’s fresco reminds the cardinals that Jesus intends to build something to serve his mission.

So, while we Catholics tend to appreciate this reading because it gives credence to Peter’s primacy among the apostles, we do well to also recognize what Jesus is doing: he’s building. This intentional act of Jesus the builder should never cease to remind us that the church is not an arbitrary element in God’s plan of salvation. Those same questions I ask about sacraments apply equally to the Church. What was (and is) Jesus’ purpose in building this Church?

But even more, bear in mind that you are a living part of the Church, and its purposes are to be carried out in and through you. The builder has brought you into this mission, in this time and place. He has done so because you have a part in carrying out the purpose. Please don’t shrug off that notion. There’s a reason you are part of the Church in this age and more than just members or participants, your part is the work that will lead you to the meaning and abiding satisfaction for which your heart burns.

[1] (formed.org) Lectio: Peter: Episode 5: Peter and the Keys