The Lord Jesus, having come into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, asked His disciples what was said of Himself; and also what they themselves thought Him to be, and about other things. And when they answered, some say this, and some that; then Peter for himself and the rest replied, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”1 Our Lord then said to him, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church,” etc. And then He gave him, for themselves and their successors, the keys for binding and loosing upon earth. Contemplate him, then, and the other disciples according to the method which I have before suggested to you. And note, that this Peter whom our Lord had just so greatly magnified, a little after was called by Him “Satan,”2 when, from a too natural love which he bore for Christ, he would have dissuaded Him from undergoing His Passion. And thus do you, after the example of your Lord, hold all for enemies, who, for the sake of avoiding bodily pain or discomfort, would turn you from the path of duty and the pursuit of spiritual good.
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