Respondens autem petrus:
Unus pro omnibus, ut dicit interlinearis. Ecce secundum, scilicet confessio
dominice incarnationis. Chrysostomus: quando plebis consilium interrogat, alii
dixerunt quod interrogatum est; quando autem mentem eorum, petrus os
apostolorum et vertex prosiluit et ait: Tu; discretive, quia unigenitus
Dei, Ioa. 1. Es: substantive, sine principio et fine,
exod. IIIº Ego sum qui sum etc. Christus: (reference to Ambrose) ...
exprimit etiam dignitatem regiam et sacerdotalem et gratiae plenitudinem....
Respondens autem Jesus dixit ei. Et commendatur ipsa confessio primo ex
veritatis simplicitate, cum dicit: Beatus es symon; interlinearis: tam
alte fidei confessione, Rom. xº: ore autem confessio fit ad salutem. Et
significanter dicit symon, quia, ut dicit beatus Cesarius, sicut ignis non est
sine calore, ita nec vera obedientia sine caritate. bariona: In hoc
ostenditur esse dei filius per gratiam, quia confessus est christum filium dei
per naturam; nam bariona interpretatur filius columbe siriace: et ut dicit
Jeronimus, quidam volunt, quod hoc nomen bariona sit scriptorum vitio
depravatum, ut pro Bariohanna, id est filio iohannis, sit scriptum una syllaba
substracta bariona.
Secundo commendatur ipsa confessio ex divina revelatione, unde subdit: quia
caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi, id est, carnalis sensus nec humana
sapientia, eccles. XVIIº: quid nequius quam quod excogitavit caro et sanguis. Sed
pater meus qui est in celis: non quod ubique non sit, sed in celis dicitur
esse, quia ibi refulget nobilior eius actus, phil. III, si quid aliter sapitis,
et hoc deus revelavit vobis. Et ego etc.: hic quarto subditur divini
muneris promissio; promittit autem stabilimentum ecclesie sibi commissae
quantum ad tria. primo quantum ad fidem veritatis; secundo ad gratiam in amore
bonitatis: et porte; tertio quantum ad eminentiam collate potestatis: et
tibi dabo. dicit ergo: et ego dico tibi, scilicet qui confessus es
me filium Dei; quia tu es petrus, ob fortitudinem fidei et confessionis
constanciam; augustinus in libro retract. xx: non petro dictum est: tu es
petra, sed petrus; petra autem erat christus, i cor. xº quem confessus Petrus a
petra nomen hoc accepit.
Et super hanc petram: quam confessus est, 1. Cor. iii: fundamentum
aliud nemo potest ponere praeter illud quod positum est quod est christus
ihesus. Vel super hanc petram: id est super fidei firmitatem secundum
Jeronimum, ii Thim. IIº: fundamentum fidei stat. Edificabo ecclesiam meam:
Jere. XXXI: In caritate perpetua attraxi te miserans et edificaberis in eodem.
Ecce dies veniunt, dicit dominus, et edificabitur civitas domino. et porte,
id est peccata in me, blandimenta, hereses, secundum Jeronimum et Bedam, et
dicuntur porte inferi, quia ad infernum ducunt. Unde Jeronimus: prava
infidelium opera ineptaque colloquia porte sunt inferi, in quantum suis vel
actoribus vel sequacibus iter perditionis ostendunt; tren. II. defixe sunt in
terra porte eius etc.
Non prevalebunt adversus eam, scilicet quod de ecclesia deficiat vera
fides, luc. xxiiº: ego pro te rogavi, petre, ut non deficiat fides tua; vel
deficiat amor divine bonitatis de ecclesia, Rom. viiiº: Quis nos separabit a
caritate christi etc. Et enim dabo: hic tertio ponitur ecclesie
stabilimentum, quantum ad eminentiam potestatis, ubi primo tangit potestatis
collationem, secundo eius executionem, ibi: et quocumque etc.; dicit
ergo, quantum ad primum: Et tibi dabo claves regni celorum. Jeronimus et
Rabanus: claves sunt scientia discernendi et potentia, qua dignos recipere et
indignos excludere deberet a regno; clavis enim hic dicitur potestas iudicandi
in foro animarum, non corporum; potestas autem iudicandi integratur ex duobus:
ex potestate discernendi in cause examinatione, et diffiniendi in cause
determinatione per sententiam condemnatoriam vel absolutoriam. prima potestas
appellatur hic scientia, secunda potentia; et sicut in sole una est potentia
liquefaciendi et indurandi in sua radice, sed due in effectibus, ita est una
clavis in radice sed due in effectibus, propter quod pluraliter dicit: Claves.
(Petrus De Scala (d. 1295), Commentary on Matthew 16:16-19, Paris, BN,
lat. 15596, ff. 194r-195r, rep. Karlfried Froehlich, “Saint Peter, Papal
Primacy, and the Exegetical Tradition, 1150-1300,” in The Religious Roles of
the Papacy: Ideals and Realities, 1150-1300, ed. Christopher Ryan [Papers
in Mediaeval Studies 8; Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies,
1989], 43-44)
Peter answers: “One for all,” as the interlinear gloss
says. “Here is the second point, namely the confession of the Lord’s
incarnation.” Chrysostom says: when he asks the people’s counsel, others give
the answer to what has been asked; but when he asks after their mind, Peter,
mouth of the apostles and their summit, sprang forward and said,
“You”—distinctively, because you are the only-begotten Son of God, John 1. “You
are”: substantively, without beginning or end, Exodus 3, “I am who I am,” etc.
“Christ”: [a reference to Ambrose]… also expresses royal and priestly dignity
and the fullness of grace.
“Jesus answering said to him.” This confession itself
is commended first from the simplicity of truth, when he says, “Blessed are
you, Simon”; the interlinear gloss: in so lofty a confession of faith, Romans
10: “with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” And he says “Simon”
significantly, because, as blessed Caesarius says, just as fire is not without
heat, so neither is true obedience without charity. “Bariona”: by this it is
shown that he is the Son of God by grace, because he confessed Christ, the Son
of God, by nature; for Bariona is interpreted as “son of the Syrian dove”; and
as Jerome says, some want this name Bariona to be corrupted by scribal error,
so that in place of Bariohanna, that is, “son of John,” it is written with one
syllable removed, Bariona.
Second, this confession is commended from divine
revelation, whence it adds: “because flesh and blood has not revealed it to
you,” that is, not carnal sense nor human wisdom, Ecclesiasticus 17: “What is
more wicked than what flesh and blood devised?” “But my Father who is in the
heavens”: not because he is not everywhere, but he is said to be in the heavens
because there his nobler activity shines forth, Philippians 3: “if you think
otherwise, God has revealed this to you.” “And I etc.”: here, fourth, the promise
of a divine gift is added; and he promises the establishment of the church
entrusted to him in three respects: first as to the faith of truth; second as
to grace in the love of goodness: “and the gates”; third as to the eminence of
conferred power: “and I will give you.” He says therefore, “and I say to you,”
namely, you who have confessed me as the Son of God; “because you are Peter,”
on account of the strength of faith and the steadfastness of confession.
Augustine in the book Retractations 20: it was not said to Peter, “You
are the rock,” but “you are Peter”; but the rock was Christ, 1 Corinthians 10,
whom Peter confessed, and from the rock he received this name.
“And upon this rock”: namely, the one he confessed, 1
Corinthians 3: “No one can lay another foundation besides that which has been
laid, which is Christ Jesus.” Or “upon this rock,” that is, upon the firmness
of faith, according to Jerome, 2 Timothy 2: “the foundation of faith stands.”
“I will build my church”: Jeremiah 31: “In everlasting love I have drawn you,
being merciful, and you shall be built in the same [love]. Behold, days are
coming, says the Lord, and a city shall be built for the Lord.” “And the
gates,” that is, sins in me, enticements, heresies, according to Jerome and
Bede, and they are called the gates of hell because they lead to hell. Hence
Jerome: the evil works of unbelievers and foolish conversations are the gates
of hell, insofar as they show the way of destruction to their agents or
followers; Lamentations 2: “Her gates are sunk into the earth,” etc.
“They will not prevail against it,” namely, that true
faith should fail from the church, Luke 22: “I have prayed for you, Peter, that
your faith may not fail”; or that the love of divine goodness should fail from
the church, Romans 8: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ,” etc.
“And I will give”: here the third support of the church is set forth, as to the
eminence of power, where first he touches on the conferral of power, second on
its exercise, there: “and whatever etc.” He says therefore, as to the first:
“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Jerome and Rabanus:
the keys are the knowledge of discerning and the power by which one ought to
receive the worthy and exclude the unworthy from the kingdom; for here “key”
means the power of judging in the forum of souls, not of bodies. But the power
of judging is made up of two things: the power of distinguishing in the
examination of a case, and of determining in the case by a condemnatory or
absolving sentence. The first power is here called knowledge, the second power;
and just as in the sun there is one power of liquefying and hardening in its
root, but two in its effects, so there is one key in the root but two in its
effects, for which reason he speaks in the plural: “Keys.”
