Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas
8:27–33
27. And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Cæsarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?
28. And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.
29. And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.
30. And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.
31. And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
32. And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
33. But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
THEOPHYLACT. After taking His disciples afar from the Jews, He then asks them concerning Himself, that they might speak the truth without fear of the Jews; wherefore it is said, And Jesus entered, and his disciples, into the towns of Cæsarea Philippi.
BEDE. (in Marc. 2, 35) Philip was that brother of Herod, of whom we spoke above, who in honour of Tiberius Cæsar called that town, which is now called Paneas, Cæsarea Philippi. It goes on, And by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) He asks the question with a purpose, for it was right that His disciples should praise Him better than the crowd.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) Wherefore He first asks what is the opinion of men, in order to try the faith of the disciples, lest their confession should appear to be founded on the common opinion. It goes on, And they answered, saying, Some say John the Baptist, some Elias, and others, One of the prophets.
THEOPHYLACT. For many thought that John had risen from the dead, as even Herod believed, and that he had performed miracles after his resurrection. After however having enquired into the opinion of others, He asks them what was the belief of their own minds on this point; wherefore it continues, And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. in Mat. 54) From the manner, however, itself of the question, He leads them to a higher feeling, and to higher thoughts, concerning Him, that they might not agree with the multitude. But the next words shew what the head of the disciples, the mouth of the Apostles, answered; when all were asked, Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.
THEOPHYLACT. He confesses indeed that He is the Christ announced by the Prophets; but the Evangelist Mark passes over what the Lord answered to his confession, and how He blessed him, lest by this way of relating it, he should seem to be favouring his master Peter; Matthew plainly goes through the whole of it.
ORIGEN. (in Matt. Tom. xii. 15) Or else, Mark and Luke, as they wrote that Peter answered, Thou art the Christ, without adding what is put down in Matthew, the Son of the living God, so they omitted to relate the blessing which was conferred on this confession. It goes on, And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.
THEOPHYLACT. For He wished in the mean time to hide His glory, lest many should be offended because of Him, and so earn a worse punishment.
CHRYSOSTOM. (ubi sup.) Or else, that He might wait to fix the pure faith in their minds, till the Crucifixion, which was an offence to them, was over, for after it was once perfected, about the time of His ascension, He said unto the Apostles, Go ye and teach all nations.
THEOPHYLACT. But after the Lord had accepted the confession of the disciples, who called Him the true God, He then reveals to them the mystery of the Cross. Wherefore it goes on, And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again; and he spake that saying openly, that is, concerning His future passion. But His disciples did not understand the order of the truth, neither could they comprehend His resurrection, but thought it better that He should not suffer.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc. v. Chrys. ubi sup.) The reason, however, why the Lord told them this, was to shew, that after His cross and resurrection, Christ must be preached by His witnesses. Again, Peter alone, from the fervour of his disposition, had the boldness to dispute about these things. Wherefore it goes on, And Peter took him up, and began to rebuke hime.
BEDE. (ubi sup. Chrys. ubi sup.) This, however, he speaks with the feelings of a man who loves and desires; as if he said, This cannot be, neither can mine ears receive that the Son of God is to be slain.
CHRYSOSTOM. But how is this, that Peter, gifted with a revelation from the Father, has so soon fallen, and become unstable? Surely, however, it was not wonderful that one who had received no revelation concerning the Passion should be ignorant of this. For that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God, he had learnt by revelation; but the mystery of His cross and resurrection had not yet been revealed to him. He Himself, however, shewing that He must come to His Passion, rebuked Peter; wherefore there follows, And when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, &c.
THEOPHYLACT. For the Lord, wishing to shew that His Passion was to take place on account of the salvation of men, and that Satan alone was unwilling that Christ should suffer, and the race of man be saved, called Peter Satan, because he savoured the things that were of Satan, and, from unwillingness that Christ should suffer, became His adversary; for Satan is interpreted ‘the adversary.’
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) But He saith not to the devil, when tempting Him, Get thee behind me, but to Peter He saith, Get thee behind me, that is, follow Me, and resist not the design of My voluntary Passion. There follows, For thou savourest not the things which be of God, but which be of men.
THEOPHYLACT. He says that Peter savours the things which be of men, in that he in some way savoured carnal affections, for Peter wished that Christ should spare Himself and not be crucified.
Catena Aurea Mark 8
NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Genesis 9:1-13
God’s Covenant with Noah
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[1] And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. [2] The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the air, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. [3] Every moving thing that lives shall he food for you; and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. [4] Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. [5] For your lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; of every beast I will require it and of man; of every man's brother I will require the life of man. [6] Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image. [7] And you, be fruitful and multiply, bring forth abundantly on the earth and multiply in it."
[8] Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, [9] "Behold, establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, [10] and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. [11] l establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. [12] And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: [13] l set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
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Commentary:
9:1-7. The sacred text now describes the new order of things that emerged after the flood. Noah and his sons receive from God, in the first place, the same blessings as Adam and Eve were given after they were created -- fruitfulness and dominion over the earth; and then God makes another disposition, to the effect that the beasts will serve them as food, for, according to the biblical narrative prior to the falI, in paradise (cf. 1:29), they only had plants available to them; now, in the new situation of mankind, after the first sin, the original harmony of the world has been shattered and violence has come on the scene. Finally, God makes two prohibitions -- eating meat with blood in it, and murder. The first of these reflects the culture of a period when blood was regarded as the source of life; therefore, even in the case of animals, that life was to be respected in some way, by avoiding the eating of flesh which had blood in it, thereby acknowledging that life comes from God. The second prohibition refers to human life, which is always sacred because every human being (we are reminded) is God's image and likeness. As in the case of Cain and Abel, God is never indifferent to the taking of human life, no matter who the victim is.
9:8-17. To show that he was pleased by Noah's sacrifice, God promised that he would never again flood the earth (cf. 8:20-22); now he renews that promise in the context of a covenant that covers all creation and which is ratified by a sign – the rainbow.
This marks the start of a series of covenants which God will freely establish with men. The first covenant (with Noah) takes in all creation, now purified and renewed by the flood. Later there will be the covenant with Abraham, which will affect only himself and his descendants (cf. chap. 17). Finally, under Moses, he will establish the covenant of Sinai (cf. Ex 19), also confined to the people of Israel. But because man proved unable to keep these successive covenants, God promised, through the prophets, to establish a new covenant in the messianic age: "I will put my law within them and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jer 31:33). This promise found its fulfilment in Christ, as he himself said when he instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of his body and blood: "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood" (Lk 22:20).
The Fathers and ecclesiastical writers saw this rainbow as the first proclamation of this new covenant. Rupert of Deutz, for example, writes: "In it God established a covenant with men through his son Jesus Christ; by the death (of Christ) on the cross God reconciled us to himself, cleansing us of our sins in his blood, and he gave us through (Christ) the Holy Spirit of his love, instituting the baptism of water and the Holy Spirit by which we are reborn. Therefore, that rainbow which appears in the clouds is a sign of the Son of God. [. . .] It is the sign that God will never again destroy all flesh by the waters of the flood; the Son of God himself, who was taken out of sight by a cloud, and who is lifted up beyond the clouds, above all the heavens, is forever a sign which reminds God the Father he is an eternal memorial of our peace: now that he in his flesh has destroyed the old enmity, friendship between God and men is secure: men are no longer servants but friends and children of God" ("Commentarium in Genesim, 4, 36").
From: Mark 8:27-33Peter's Profession of Faith
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[27] And Jesus went on with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He asked His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" [28] And they told Him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others one of the prophets." [29] And He asked them, "But who do you say I am?" Peter answered Him, "You are the Christ." [30] And He charged them to tell no one about Him.
Jesus Foretells His Passion and Resurrection. Christian Renunciation
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[31] And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. [32] And He said this plainly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him. [33] But turning and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, and said, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men."
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Commentary:
29. Peter's profession of faith is reported here in a shorter form than in Matthew 16:18-19. Peter seems to go no further than say that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Eusebius of Caesarea, in the fourth century, explains the Evangelist's reserve by the fact that he was the interpreter of St. Peter, who omitted from his preaching anything which might appear to be self-praise. The Holy Spirit, when inspiring St. Mark, wanted the Gospel to reflect the preaching of the prince of the Apostles, leaving it to other evangelists to fill out certain important details to do with the episode of the confession of Peter.
The sketchiness of the narrative still show Peter's role quite clearly: he is the first to come forward affirming the messiahship of Jesus. Our Lord's question, "But who do you say that I am?", shows what Jesus is asking the Apostles for--not an opinion, more or less favorable, but firm faith. It is St. Peter who expresses this faith (cf. note on Matthew 16:13-20).
31-33. This is the first occasion when Jesus tells His disciples about the sufferings and death He must undergo. He does it twice more, later on (cf. Mark 9:31 and 10:32). The Apostles are surprised, because they cannot and do not want to understand why the Master should have to suffer and die, much less that He should be so treated "by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes." But Peter, with his usual spontaneity, immediately begins to protest. And Jesus replies to him using the same words as He addressed the devil when he tempted Him (cf. Matthew 4:10); He wants to affirm, once again, that His mission is spiritual, not earthly, and that therefore it cannot be understood by using mere human criteria: it is governed by God's designs, which were that Jesus should redeem us through His passion and death. So too, for a Christian, suffering, united with Christ, is also a means of salvation.
Source: Daily Word for Reflection—Navarre Bible
