Isaiah 22:19-23; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20
The “eleventh commandment” is the order of the day everywhere, not only in the West. No one is a thief, racist, adulterer, murderer, assassin, rouge, except someone caught and successfully prosecuted. That is the eleventh commandment—“thou shall not be caught”. God did not include the eleventh commandment in his Decalogue, but human beings have invented and included it in their understanding of laws. This Sunday, the Lord invites us to eliminate the eleventh commandment and enthrone FAITH in God in its place, if we want to be connected to God and have his KEY in our possession.
Our first reading talks about the transfer of power—one person was fired—sacked—another was hired—employed. Leadership passes from Shebna to Eliakim. The symbol of this power and leadership is a KEY: “I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder” (Isaiah 22:22). Curiously, countries and towns and villages do not have keys; houses and rooms do. In our first reading, it is a single key, not many keys. What doors or door does this “key” open? When “power” and “leadership” are seen as a “key,” where does the key accede the one who possesses it to? This “key” is a prophecy, and prophecies need faith because faith is the key or access to God! The point is that faith in God is required, should we want to remain in contact with God and be at his service—that is the KEY of God—FAITH.
The leadership of God’s people escaped and abandoned their leadership position at the news of war and mishap (Isaiah 22:1-18). It was a context of the abandonment of duty for lack of faith, that Israel’s leadership position had to be transferred to a worthier person. It is not about political power—the people of the land did not congregate in a plebiscite and vote, and the constituency involved is a home and a family—the rules are different. Our text references God’s initiative—“He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder” (Isaiah 22:21-22). Leadership of God’s people is “Fatherhood,” because God’s people is a household; hence, their is a key to accede to this house—faith. A leader whom God chooses will hold the “key” to the house of God—“I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family.” As children of God, we are a family, not a polity!
The person God raises up as leader is in the future—“I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut when he shuts, no one shall open” (Isaiah 22:22). Such a person never existed before Christ. Leadership was lacking among the children of humans, and God promises to raise up a better leadership for his children. As long as the human society fails to acknowledge God’s leadership over it, to that degree will human leadership of society suffer injustices. The true leader of human beings is God; whatever leadership structure we put in place will suffer from the eleventh commandment as long as the God of all human beings is not recognized and respected over the visible leadership and legal systems we have in place—we can deceive human beings, but not God.
With God, the eleventh commandment is impracticable because God catches us out in our thoughts: “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). God convicts us of our sins, without needing any witnesses, because “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). We cannot escape from the Lord because he is everywhere: “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you” (Psalm 139:7-12).
Our countries are products of wars and political maneuvering, our constitutions are narcissistic and our leadership egoistic. God proposes a household and a family model as alternative basis for human relationships; not constituted by blood and ethnicity alone, but by humanity, faith, fidelity and sacrifice. To have a key around one’s neck and shoulders is a sign of total dedication and surrender of one’s will—“I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder”. It is a model of fidelity to God and not dancing to the will of the people! Here is the connection with our gospel reading of today.
“Who do you say that I am” (Matthew 16:15) is not the question of identity, but a question of acknowledgement. To know that Jesus is Lord or God is not the problem. The fundamental problem is ACKNOWLEDGEMENT! Do we live our lives as if God is our leader or do we corrupt our leaders and make them think that they are “gods” and owe no accountability to God for all that they do? As individuals, do we live our lives with concrete proofs that God is our leader and not just the people we elect into offices, even fraudulently sometimes? Faced with unjust laws do we just obey because we cannot stand up for the unwritten and codified laws of God written into our consciences?
The key that was transferred from Shebna to Eliakim, given by Jesus to Peter, is the acknowledgment of the supremacy of God over human beings. It is a key that faith and fidelity to God alone can make functional and effective. It is not power to be wielded, but example to be shown; it is not an authority at the discretion of the key-holder, but the malleability of a leader in God’s hands: “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Heavenly Father” (Matthew 16:17). There will always be theories of the source and origins of power, authority and leadership. Jesus refers to the theorists of his times, that is why he asked his disciples: “who do people say I am”. Jesus addresses the children of God, when he asked: “who do you say that I am”. And, Jesus recognizes, acknowledges and confirms his children when their knowledge conforms and corresponds to God’s: “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father”. Faith is the only key that provides access to God, through Jesus Christ, and Peter alone got it right.
It is Paul who summarizes the stake of our readings of today: “For from him and through him and for him are all things” (Romans 11:36). The supremacy of God is what matters not the personality of the leader, even when it is the Pope! Only those who recognize and acknowledge the authority of God accept the leadership of the Pope. Only the Pope that acts and functions on the basis of the mind of God and revelation is actually a Pope. The very first authority of the Keys of the Pope is the Word of God for which he is a servant and a custodian—whence his infallibility. It is his fidelity to the Faith of our Fathers that makes him “papa”—Father of God’s household. Yes, the Church is a family of God, the household of Christians and the home of believers in God: this home has a visible papa—the Pope. But the membership of God’s household is also based on faith, the individual faith of Christians.
This Sunday’s readings are a turning curve for us all. We need to grow up in the faith like the political disciples of Jesus in today’s gospel: they chorused the political gossip of their time—“some say your Elijah, others, Jeremiah, . . .” Only Peter spoke from faith and revelation. You and I need to mature in our faith and pit our camp with Peter’s confession. God’s revelation goes beyond political philosophical theories and reaches to the mind of God and the core of God’s revelation to his children. If Jesus risked giving the Keys to Peter, it is because he is aware that human beings are capable of acknowledging God, with little effort to know and practice the dictates of the Sacred Scriptures. Indeed, “Faith is defending God’s Key in our possession!