The Role of PETER in JOHN 21

JOHN 21:15-23 and the Primacy of Peter

I. John 21 was added to the main text of the Gospel of John which ended with chapter 20.
A. This epilogue has always been considered to be a part of the Gospel.
B. It was probably written by another member of the Johannine community following the lead of the evangelist (called the redactor).
C. John 21 includes two separate events: (1) vv.1-14, and (2) vv.15-23.

II. John 21 is a resurrection appearance of Jesus where Peter is “chosen” to lead the faithful.
A. Jesus asks a series of three questions to Peter about whether or not Peter “loves” him.
1. Most commentators believe this to be an attempt by Jesus to allow Peter to redeem himself because of his earlier three-fold denial of Jesus (John 18:17, 25-26).
2. In asking these three questions, the image of the shepherd arises. “Feed my lambs (v.15)…Tend my sheep (v.16)…Feed my sheep (v.17)”.
B. The shepherd is a surrogate or stand-in for God. Jesus is this shepherd (John 10) but now he commissions Peter to fulfill the role.
1.The shepherd, Peter, is to watch over the flock of the faithful until the true shepherd, Jesus, returns.
2. Because of this shepherd imagery, Peter is also to be identified with martyrs because “ [Jesus speaking] The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11).
a. See also the language of John 21:18 “…when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands…” common language for crucifixion.
b. In point of fact, tradition records that Peter was crucified at Rome under Nero (sometime around 64 to 68 CE).

III. Peters’ role in the Jesus movement expands as time passes.
A. Missionary role- Originally Peter is a fisher of men charged by Jesus to help to gather the people of Israel. (i.e. Mark 1:17)
B. Pastoral role- With the addition of the role of shepherd, Peter is now also given the power to watch over the flock in a (to protect and care for them).
C. This evolutionary of the nature of Peter’s role has led many commentators to the opinion that the story of John 21 is a combination of an historical appearance of Jesus and the later history of the Jesus movement. (As well as the evidence in Matthew 16).

IV. Matthew 16:13-20 also deals with the primacy of Peter as well, but in a different way.
A. There are five main differences in the respective stories (besides the overall setting).
1. "on this rock” (Mt. 16:18)
2. “I [Jesus] will build my church” (16:18)
3. “and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (16:18)
4. “I will give you the keys of heaven” (16:19)
5. “and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose in heaven will be loosed on earth.” (16:19)

V. John 21 and Matthew 16 both offer many hints that the role of Peter evolved from the time of Jesus until the time that the respective traditions were recorded in the Gospels.

Mary, Mother of Jesus

MARY: The Roles of the Blessed Virgin

I. Mary in the NT
A. Few references (Gospels, Acts)
B. Not always positively portrayed (Mark 3:21-35)…she is never described as an unbeliever though.

II. Church Writings and Fathers
A. Extracanonical texts which include Mary; Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Latin Pseudo-Matthew, the Gospel of Mary, Acts of Pilate, Protevagelium of James).
B. In the 2nd century only three mention Mary; Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr and Irenaeus.
C. Mary is always seen in light of Christ; nothing is hers alone, all refers to Christ (Mariological Christology).

III. Vatican II
A. Council debated where to include Mary (her own document of within that of the Church , Lumen Gentium). Closest vote of all, 1114 to 1074, decided to place her within LG, in chapter 8.

IV. Mother of God
Theotokos, “she who brings forth God” (431 CE, Council of Ephesus).

V. Mother of the Church
A. Not explicitly in Vatican II documents (it is implicitly stated). Pope Paul VI declared Mary to be the Mother of the Church, following the lead of LG which had implied that Mary was the Mother of the Church.
B. Theologians see this title in the action of Jesus giving the Beloved Disciple to his mother at Crucifixion (John 19:25-27).
C. Mary and Church parallel one another: (1) virgins who promote Jesus; (2) Mary physical mother of Christ, Church spiritual mother of Christ; (3) Both are signs of the redemptive power of Christ; (4) Both are involved in the economy of salvation.

VI. Disciple of the Church
A. Mary receives the angel Gabriel and the message of the LORD. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38). She gave her loving ascent to the will of God.
B. Augustine: Mary is the “…preeminent and altogether member of the Church…cooperated out of love so that there might be born in the Church the faithful…”

VII. "Type" of the Church
A. Mary represents the Church, she points to it.
B. The Church follows the example of Mary.
C. The Mary is the archetype that the Church ascends to.

1 COR 15, The Resurrection Appearances

1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-11
The Post Resurrection Appearances

I. 1 Corinthians was written by Paul sometime in the 50’s CE (prob. 52-57) thereby making it the oldest extant report of the resurrection appearances.
A. Written to correct teachings that had been forgotten (15:1) especially those concerning the resurrection.
B. The mixed community, Jew and Gentile, had begun to follow the Greek idea of the soul being all-important. Therefore the resurrection was unimportant because only the soul, and not the body, was important.

II. Paul passes on the information regarding the resurrection that have been given to him by the community (in its kerygma or proclamation of faith in Jesus) and Christ (from his own vision).

A. It appears as if Paul has incorporated an originally independent tradition of early teaching in Jesus (the kerygma) that includes verses 3b-5 which spoke of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
1. The fourfold use of “hoti” or “that” appears to form a primitive structure.
2. “that Christ died for our sins” (v.3) Paul never uses the plural but always the singular “sin.”
3. Paul uses “the twelve” in verse 5 when he always uses the term “apostles”.

B. Therefore Paul appears to have added the actual list of people to the original tradition i.e. Cephas, the 500 brothers and sisters, James “the brother of the Lord,” and himself (vv.5b-8).

C. Paul feels unworthy of the grace of God which has been bestowed upon him so he strives to work on behalf of God to thank the LORD for the unwarranted gift he received (vv.8-10).

III. The resurrection accounts in the Gospels (Mark 16:1-8; Matt. 28:1-20; Luke 23:56b-24:53; John 20:1-29; John 21:1-23; and Mark16:9-20) and 1 Corinthians 15 cannot be harmonized.

A. The Gospels include an empty tomb, Paul does not.
The idea was not central to the proclamation (death, burial, resurrection,) even though it seems to be implied.

B. The Gospels included women, Paul does not.
Not able to be “witnesses,” there mention could have offended some communities.

C. The Gospels include settings for the appearances (Jerusalem and Galilee), Paul does not.
Settings could be used for specific communities benefit or understanding at a more developed stage of teaching (i.e. Gospels 20-40 years later).

D. The Gospels include spoken words of Jesus, Paul does not.
Early kerygma, as well as Paul, seem concerned with the act and
message of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and not the words of Jesus (Paul appears to know next to nothing about Jesus besides the “big three”).