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| Al Khazneh (The Treasury) at Petra |
"an ancient Semitic people who inhabited northern Arabia and the Southern Levant, their settlements in CE 37 – c. 100, gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Arabia and Syria, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. Their loosely-controlled trading network, which centered on strings of oases that they controlled, where agriculture was intensively practiced in limited areas, and on the routes that linked them, had no securely defined boundaries in the surrounding desert."
This mysterious oasis of both water and creativity is analogous to the Kingdom of God, the mysterious oasis of living water that feeds our spirituality. We will use this ancient Nabataean city as our visual guide as unlock Christ's explanation to his Disciples of his own Kingdom.
Revealing the Face of God
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| Betyls (Baetylus) from Petra |
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Like many of the ancient archaeological treasures of Egypt and Greece, anything that wasn't bolted down in Petra has been taken away to museums in far away lands. Luckily. most of the treasures in Petra were bolted to the ground: or rather carved out of the mountain. Among the things that could be chiseled away (like this Nabataean sculpture now in Basel) was there idols. Like many Arab groups in the pre-Islamic world, the Nabataeans were polytheistic. Yes they did go through years of being influenced by Greco-Roman religious ideas and even had a Christian period but their early indigenous notions about deity were very much so tied to their rocky environment. Unlike most of the idols of the ancient world, the Nabataeans left their depictions of deity as close to an unadorned block of stone as possible. Often their idols (properly termed Betyl or Baetylus) would just be minimalistic details of a face in stone. Though the Nabataeans were the most simplistic, several ancient cultures have places featuring a Betyl: places with a sacred stone where the local deities were worshipped.
Now even though the Israelites of scripture were the theological polar opposite of the Nabataeans (being monotheists) they also had their own experience with a Betyl experience... you may know it as Bethel. In Genesis 28: 11-19, Jacob (later known as Israel) had a mysterious dream in which he encountered God. We usually call this vision "Jacob's ladder." In it God introduces Himself as the god of his forefathers. Then Scripture says that "Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel." In Hebrew "Beth El" means "House of God. Jacob was slowly discovering what had gradually been becoming apparent to God's throughout Scripture: the God of Israel was not a local deity equal to any of the other idols of their neighbors, rather the God of Israel was the God of the Universe... the only God.
So Christ brought his band of Disciples to Caesarea Philippi to question them about the image of God. They were far away from Bethel but they would have an experience like that of Jacob. They were far away from Petra but Christ would tell them of the great city built on a rock that they would form. For at this moment the God of Israel incarnate would ask them about his identity. This was a culminating point in Salvation history, where all of God's efforts to reveal Himself would come to a head. Christ asked the Disciples collectively who the multitudes believed him to be. They responded John the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah... all holy men and prophets who had guided Israel in the gradual revelation of God's fullness. But then Christ asked his Disciples who they had intimately come to know him as. And Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Simon Peter had come to know him as the One whom the prophets foretold and Scripture promised. The image of the invisible God. And in response Christ told Simon Peter who he understood him to be.
The Rock and River of Revelation
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| Ad Deir ("The Monastery").at Petra |
Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
The name of the ancient city of Petra comes from the Greek word Πέτρα meaning "rock." Simple enough. The foundation of the buildings are rock...and the walls and the ceilings. Actually rock seems to be the primary building supply for the whole town. But why would anyone decide to live in a rock in the middle of a desert (even if it is a beautiful as Petra)? The answer is a river... or at least a waterway. Specifically one named Wadi Musa. As I stated earlier Petra was an oasis. The Nabataeans were a clever people who had created a system of channels through the Wadi Musa from the Ain Musa. Any of you who are familiar with Arabic may recognize that "Musa" in both words is the Arabic name ( موسى ) for Moses in Scripture. Wadi Musa refers to the valley of Moses that the Ain Musa, or Spring of Moses, flows through. Local legend connects this this site to the place in Numbers 20:1-13 where Moses struck the rock and water flowed out.
When Jesus heard Simon Peter's testify of his being the Christ, he shared the living water from his own well. This was the revelation of whom Simon Peter was in Christ. He did this with a play on words. He called Simon Peter by his Greek name Peter (Πέτρος) rather than Hebrew name Simon. This is because in Greek Peter meant the same thing as the town Petra. To put it another way, Πέτρος = Πέτρα. Jesus was saying that Peter was a rock. And much like the Nabataean architects of Petra, Christ found rock to be a suitable foundation to build his Church on. One that the powers of evil and death could not prevail against. But what did he mean by this?
Moses carries great significance in all of Scripture for several reasons. Moses was the first miracle worker. He also was a leader in forming the people of God into a free national identity... which would lead to them eventually claiming a land/state and later on becoming a kingdom like Nabataeans in Petra. However his most significant aspect may be his being the first person to commit to writing the revealed word of God. Peter has great significance throughout Christian history. He would eventually go on to found the Church in Rome, becoming its first bishop. Roman Catholics believe that this is the foundation of the primacy of Rome, the idea that the sitting Bishop of Rome (the Pope) leads the worldwide Church in the same way the Peter lead the Apostles after Christ's ascension. This is a point of contention between Roman Catholics and other Christians such as the Orthodox Churches and Protestants. No as a Baptist (Protestant), I obviously have an opinion into this matter, but I think that we all may be missing the greater truth in this matter: The tie between Moses and Peter (the river and the rock) in the Kingdom of God. The rock that Jesus honors in Peter is the same thing that allowed Moses to make rivers run from rocks: divine revelation. Both Moses and Peter had ears to hear what God was speaking or as Jesus said "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." God was not just honoring Peter or Moses for being their own faulted selves but rather for being vessels that He could work through. Vessels of the revealed Word of God. Moses gave us the first five books of Scripture and Peter lead the Apostolic generation that delivered to us the culmination of God's saving message to humanity. They are the the Law and Grace. The revelation of the truth of God that is a rock upon which to build God's kingdom (Church) where God's nation is feed by the river of life.
Accessing the Kingdom
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| The Treasury at Petra, as seen from al-Siq, right before the passage ends. |
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Wadi Musa has carved away at the dessert over the millennia, leaving a rocky, cavernous terrain. In one of these areas it actually just smoothed the path of a natural geological fault split apart by tectonic forces, shaping it into a natural road. This area is known as The Siq, or al-Sīq السيق, to the locals. This narrow gorge serves as the main entrance to Petra. It is the metaphorical key to entering this mysterious ancient city.
The Bible is no stranger to metaphors. Jesus was known for his extensive use of parables, but he also continued the biblical tradition of using idioms and other forms of colorful depictions to explain spiritual truths. His proclamation of Peter's future was no different. Jesus said that Peter possessed the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. And just like The Siq, these metaphorical keys were symbols of a greater truth. Both keys represented the limited, narrow access to a kingdom. Both represented access to an oasis that is the salvation of pilgrims: travelers who grew weary from traversing the desert. The key to the Siq is a passageway through steep rocks. What are the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven that God gave to Peter? What are these keys with the miraculous powers to bind (lock) on earth and in heaven and loose (unlock) on earth and in heaven?
I will keep you in suspense no longer because I believe that discovering the nature of these keys will help you discover the nature of the Kingdom of God. Just as the Siq is a crevice between rocks that creates a passage way to Petra the city made of rock, the keys of the Kingdom of God are made of the same substance of the Kingdom of God. The keys of the Kingdom of God is forgiveness. When Peter decided to forgive someone on Earth he was echoing the mercy that was given them in Heaven. When Peter retained the sins of someone on Earth it was only because God in heaven had retained them...and forgiveness of one's sins is what gains one admittance into Heaven. The keys to the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of God are made of the same substance. The Kingdom of God is forgiveness. God's reign in our lives (and the universe) is all based on a relationship of mercy, grace and love. For mankind, God's Kingdom is known in the forgiveness that we receive through Christ. This forgiveness is the key that Peter wielded in his preaching. It is the same key that we the Church share with our brethren, neighbors, strangers and enemies. Forgiving one another and being forgiven by God opens up the Kingdom of God.
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| General view of Petra |
This Kingdom of God... of God's people... of the Church... of forgiveness, is the body of Christ.
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