On St. Peter as the Apostle of Hope
On St. Peter as the Apostle of Hope.
[this article is in process, so it is unfinished at this point. Please don’t read until it is completed]
“The Resurrection is, first and foremost, the act of infinite tenderness by which the Father, after the terrible suffering of the Passion, revived his Son from death by means of the Holy Spirit and made him Lord. It is the cry with which God, after holding back and putting up with violence for a long time, finally breaks his silence. The Father, to express it in human terms, drew near to Jesus in the tomb just as someone here would gently draw near the crib of a child who is sick or sleeping, and awoke him from the sleep of death. The gospel tells us that Jesus one day came upon the casket of a young man who had died and cried out, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” and the young man sat up, and Jesus returned him to his mother (Luke 7:14). Now it is the Father who comes near to the tomb of Jesus and cries out, “Son, I say to you, arise!” and Jesus sits up and arises. The Father is the one who resurrects, the Son is the resurrected one, and the Holy Spirit is the resurrection itself. The action of the Father is the source of the greatest hope for us, because it declares in advance what he will one day also do for us. (from Contemplating the Trinity, by R. Cantalamessa).
A Fisherman-Wordsmith. The great St. Peter, close confidante of Jesus, the rock who yet stumbled in betrayal, the redeemed and undisputed leader of the early Jesus movement in Jerusalem, and the first apostle to preach to the Gentiles… From his perch in Rome soon before 65 AD, he wrote his two letters to the scattered Christ-followers around Asia Minor, addressing both Gentiles and Jewish believers. Peter and his scribe Silvanus were creative wordsmiths in the way they composed his two letters, devising 119 unique vocabulary words that are found nowhere else in the New Testament! Evidently, if Peter couldn’t find just the right word to express himself, he made one up! In his own unique way, Peter wanted to encourage these new believers in their trials and the persecution that was beginning to threaten them from the Roman empire. He urgently yearned to infuse hope into them in the midst of their difficulties, not only the hope of their eventual, final salvation, but also in their daily lives full of difficulty. Their hope was not only in their future glory with Jesus, but also in God’s promises to provide what was needed in trying circumstances as they matured in the Faith. So Peter focused intensely on hope, especially in his first letter. As he exclaimed in 1:6, Peter directed them to “greatly rejoice” in their hope, to exult in joy as they eagerly expected what was surely waiting for them, even if they had to endure various trials in the meantime.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who, according to His boundless, extravagant mercy, we are reborn into an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!” (1 Peter 1:3).
Our Triumphant Hope. These opening words of Peter have long been considered a quote from an early Christian baptismal liturgy, which in turn was directly taken from a traditional Jewish benediction that introduced their central worship prayer called the “Amidah.” Yes, we who were spiritually lifeless have now experienced the God-initiated act of His Fathering us into a new life, into the powerful life of the resurrected Christ! We are born into a new family, the royal family of Christ the King and so have a divine inheritance waiting for us in heaven, an inheritance that will never be contaminated, or stolen, will never fade away or become tarnished in any way. We have been born from above, spiritually delivered from the womb of Creator God on high. Our certain hope is based on the fact that it draws its life from the Jesus who rose from the dead. We can now live into the resurrection power of Jesus in our daily life as we trust in Him. God’s gracious act of birthing us anew, accomplished through His Son’s resurrection, has now established an eternal hope that rests in God’s enduring faithfulness. “What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven – and the future starts now! (1 Peter 1:3-4, MSG)
“Gird the loins of your understanding; be mentally alert, sober-minded, self-controlled, focused. Fix your hope completely on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:13).
Gird Your Loins. In the biblical era, men always wore flowing tunics, a robe that could have been knee-length or even down closer to the ankles. To “gird up” meant gathering the loose lower parts of the tunic, folding them up into the waist area, and tucking it into the waistcloth. a belt-like article of clothing called a girdle. One’s loin was the waist area, the area between the hips and ribs. So “girding up” was done every day… hitch your tunic up and tuck it in, which is only common sense. If one didn’t gird their loins, one would not have the freedom of movement needed to take long strides, or run, or work, or fight. That was the whole purpose of that belt around your hips… to remove the hindrances of those long, restrictive tunics worn by everyone in those days. This very common practice turned into a sort of metaphor, an idiom used by everyone to say: prepare for action, get ready to move, do what you need to do in readiness for work and movement. The only time when one’s girdle was loosened was if that person was lazy, or apathetic, or was sleeping. An ill-prepared mind like that certainly does not have the freedom of movement needed to run the race of faith, labor for the Lord, or engage in spiritual warfare. Peter is compelling all of us to live in the spirit of the Passover, when Yahweh directed all those living under Egyptian slavery who trusted in Him to gird their loins and be ready to move at a moment’s notice.
In Other Words. Since men don’t wear tunics or girdle-belts these days, of course, this metaphor for readiness and preparation is often spoken in phrases like, Time to roll up your sleeves! Get your thinking caps on! Fasten your seatbelts! Get your rear in gear! Keep your eyes peeled! Get ready to rumble! Be on your toes! Get your head into the game! Get your game face on! Focus! So if St. Peter were speaking to us today, he might have said, “Roll up the sleeves of your mind and get yourself mentally prepared!” “Put on your thinking cap and snap out of your stupor!” “Fasten your mental seatbelt because something challenging is coming your way!” “Get your mind’s rear in gear and get yourself ready!” Get your thought-life ready to rumble!” “Be on your mental toes!” “Get your head into the game and focus!” “Keep your intellectual eyes peeled and ready to do some serious thinking!”