Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
21st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Cycle A)
Readings:
Isaiah 22:15, 19-23
Psalm 138:1-3, 6, 8
Romans 11:33-36
Matthew 16:13-20
Abbreviations are NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition); NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).
The two Testaments reveal God's divine plan for humanity; therefore, we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of the Readings: Divinely Instituted Authority
The First Reading and the Gospel Reading address the
entrusting of royal authority in the symbolic "keys" of the Kingdom. The key to
the palace of the Davidic kings was entrusted to every Davidic chief servant/vicar,
and Jesus, the Davidic Messiah, entrusted the keys of His Kingdom to Saint Peter.
These symbolic acts are part of the mystery of God's Divine Plan.
In the First Reading, God instructs the prophet Isaiah to appoint Eliakim to become the chief steward or vicar of the palace of King Hezekiah. The palace was the center of government for the Davidic kingdom. God told the prophet Isaiah, that Eliakim must receive all the signs of the office of vicar/chief steward. His signs of authority included a unique garment identifying his high office, the title of "father" to the kingdom's people, and the "key of the house of David." The key was his sign of authority and gave him the power to "open and shut," meaning to make binding decisions for the good of the Davidic kingdom. The oracle of Isaiah finds significant resonance in the New Testament when Jesus divinely appointed Peter to become the chief steward/Vicar of His Kingdom of the Church. Jesus gave Peter the same powers as Eliakim, including the keys of His kingdom and the authority to "open and shut" or "bind and loose" in governing the Kingdom of the Church.
The Responsorial Psalm acknowledges that God has a divine plan for every person's life. The inspired writer offers a hymn of joy and thanksgiving because God the Father reveals the mystery of His Kingdom to His people. Those who sing God's praise in the liturgy of worship must trust in the Lord and His purposes, believing He is trustworthy and will not forsake His faithful people. The Lord sees the condition of the poor and humble, hears petitions made in His name, and gives His people the strength they need to endure suffering. However, God does not have an intimate relationship with the proud and selfish whose sins become a barrier to a relationship with Him.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul gave the Christians of the Church in Rome a hymn extolling God's mercy and wisdom. Paul declared that divine wisdom and knowledge were beyond the grasp of human understanding, and no one could anticipate the Lord's acts of mercy and grace. Paul wrote that God did not depend on humanity to dispense His gifts, but He does invite humankind to partake of the richness of His favor through their response to faith in acts of mercy and love. Concerning God's divine plan for humanity in establishing the Kingdom of the Church as His vehicle of salvation, St. Paul wrote: "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God."
In the Gospel Reading, Jesus gave St. Peter the keys to His earthly Kingdom of the Church. Jesus, the root and offspring of David (Mt 1:1; Rev 4:5), holds by divine right the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven with authority to forgive or bind sins, thereby opening or closing a person's entrance into His Kingdom (Rev 1:18; 5:5; 22:16). The keys to the heavenly Kingdom have an earthly counterpart in the key of the Davidic Kingdom that every descendant of King David entrusted to his chief steward/vicar. An example is Eliakim, the chief steward of King Hezekiah, whom Scripture called a spiritual "father" to the covenant people (First Reading).
After Peter's profession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, Jesus commissioned Peter as the chief steward/Vicar of His Kingdom of Heaven on earth, the Universal (Catholic) Church. Peter and all who succeeded him in the office of Vicar of Jesus's Kingdom of the Church are the spiritual "fathers" to the New Covenant people. They have the power and authority entrusted to them by Jesus, the true Davidic King, to govern the Church until He returns in glory. Jesus also gave His ministerial priesthood the authority to bind or loose (forgive or retain) sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation when He breathed the Holy Spirit upon His Apostles and told them: "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained" (Jn 20:22-23). For this reason, Peter and his successors have two keys. The Davidic Vicars only had one key to their king's earthly kingdom, but Christ's Vicars have keys to His Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of the Church on earth to bind or forgive sins.
The First Reading Isaiah 22:15, 19-23 ~ The Lord Appoints
a Vicar of the Davidic Kingdom
15 Thus says the LORD [YHWH], to Shebna,
master of the palace: [...] 19 "I will thrust you from your office and pull you
down from your station. 20 On that day, I will summon my servant Eliakim, son
of Hilkiah; 21 I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and
give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem and the house of Judah. 22 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. 23 I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot to be a place of honor
for his family."
Shebna was the vicar/chief steward of the Davidic king Hezekiah of Judah in c. 710 BC (also mentioned in 2 Kings 18:26, 37; 19:2 and Isaiah 36:3, 11, 22; and 37:2). Shebna failed in his duties to the Davidic king, and therefore God told Isaiah to dismiss him from his office and replace him with God's righteous servant Eliakim. By replacing Shebna, Eliakim would receive the signs of the office of vicar/chief steward, which included:
23 I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot to be a place
of honor for his family."
Verse 23 expresses Yahweh's divine appointment of Eliakim to
this place of honor and authority.
The oracle of Isaiah, especially in verse 22, finds significant resonance in the New Testament associated with our Gospel reading. The text of verse 22 is also a link to the Davidic Messiah in the Book of Revelation. That passage describes the Messiah as The holy one, the true, who holds the key of David, who opens and no one shall close, who closes and no one shall open (Rev 3:7). Jesus is the new David, and the "key of David" that He holds is the key of divine authority to open the door of Heaven (Mt 3:16; CCC 1026). The Church's Liturgy of "O Antiphons" in the week before Christmas extols Christ and gives Him the Messianic title: "Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel, you who reign over the whole world, come and free those who wait for you in darkness" (Divine Office, Antiphon at Vespers, December 20th).
Responsorial Psalm 138:1-3, 6, 8b ~ The Hymn of a
Grateful Heart
The response is: "Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake
the work of your hands."
1 I give you thanks, O LORD [Yahweh], with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth; in the presence of the angels, I will
sing your praise; 2a I will worship at your holy Temple.
Response:
2b I will give thanks to your name because of your
kindness and your truth: 3 when I called, you answered me; you built up
strength within me.
Response:
6 The LORD [Yahweh] is exalted, yet the lowly he sees,
and the proud he knows from afar.
8b Your kindness, O LORD [Yahweh], endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
Response:
The superscription of this Psalm attributes the author of this hymn of gratitude and praise as King David, the shepherd boy God anointed to "shepherd" His covenant people, Israel (1 Sam 16:1-13), and the ancestor of the Virgin Mary and Jesus (Mt 1:1; Lk 1:32). Verse 2 suggests that the Levitical choir sang Psalm 138 during worship services in the Jerusalem Temple. It begins in verses 1-3 with praise of the Lord Yahweh for the benefits the covenant people received from Him. These benefits include God's answer to petitions made in His name and the strength God gave His people to help them endure suffering (verse 2b).
The Lord saw the condition of the poor and humble, and He heard their petitions (2b, 6a). However, God does not have an intimate relationship with the proud and selfish whose sins take them far from Him (verse 6b). The Psalm acknowledges that God has a divine plan for every person's life and that those who sing God's praise must trust in the Lord and His purposes, having confidence that the Lord is faithful and will not forsake His people (verse 8b).
The Second Reading Romans 11:33-36 ~ Hymn to God's Mercy and Wisdom
33 Oh, the depth of the riches
and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how
unsearchable his ways! 34 "For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has
been his counselor?" 35 Or who has given the LORD anything that he may be
repaid?" 36 For from him and through him and for
him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen."
After the four times repetition of the word "mercy" in Romans 11:30-32, in this passage, Saint Paul broke into a hymn extolling God's mercy and wisdom. This moving hymn of praise concludes this section of Paul's letter concerning the salvation of Israel. The hymn falls into a three-part division:
Paul began by acknowledging that God's wisdom and knowledge are beyond the grasp of human understanding by combining two verses in Psalms 139 into one line in verse 33. Then, he quoted from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) Old Testament books of Isaiah and Job in verses 34 and 35.
Perhaps Paul was reflecting on the mysterious plan in which God's election of Israel as His Chosen people worked to bring the estranged Gentile peoples within the scope of God's plan of eternal salvation. In the first part, Paul alluded to Psalm 139:6 and 17a. He wrote: Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach (139:6), and How precious to me are your designs, O God (139:17a). Compare those verses with Romans 11:33 ~ How rich and deep are the wisdom and the knowledge of God! We cannot reach to the root of his decisions or his ways.
In the second part of the hymn, Paul quoted directly from the Septuagint (LXX) of Isaiah 40:13 and Job 35:7 in a set of three rhetorical questions:
In 1 Corinthians 2:16, Paul quoted the same passage from Isaiah and provided the answer: For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to counsel him? But we have the mind of Christ.
The other Old Testament passage in the third rhetorical question is from Job 35:7 (LXX), Who has given anything to him so that his presents come only as a debt returned? In other words, no one can anticipate God's acts of mercy and grace. He does not depend on humanity to dispense these gifts. However, He does invite humankind to partake of the richness of His favor through their response to faith. But the gift of grace He gives is not a payment for services rendered or "a debt returned" but a gift freely given in divine love.
In the final verse, the doxology
of the hymn, St. Paul acknowledged God in three ways: 36 For from him and
through him and for him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen."
He acknowledges God as:
All creation is dependent on God. Everything comes from Him: Israel's prerogatives as the Chosen People, the hardening of mind and heart concerning the Messiah, and the election of the Gentile nations to the New Covenant graces. All the peoples on the earth and the entire cosmos are destined to glorify Him as the One True God!
The Gospel of Matthew 16:13-20 ~ St. Peter's
Profession of the Christ and Jesus Proclaims the Founding of His Church by
giving the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter
13 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi,
and he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 They
replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or
one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you [plural] say
that I am?" 16 Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah [Christos], the
Son of the living God." 17 Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you [singular],
Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you [singular],
but my heavenly Father. 18 And so I say to you [singular], you [singular]
are Peter [Petros], and upon this rock [petra] I will build my Church
[ekklesia], and the gates of the netherworld [Hades] shall not prevail against
it. 19 I will give you [singular] the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Whatever you [singular] bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and
whatever you [singular] loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven." 20 Then,
he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah [Christos].
[...] = literal Greek translation (The Interlinear
Bible: Greek-English, Vol. IV, pages 47-48).
Jesus led His disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi, about 40 km (more than 20 miles) north of the Sea of Galilee. Caesarea Philippi (also described as a collection of villages in Mk 8:27) was situated on the southern slope of Mount Hermon and strategically located on the border with Syria. It was on land that had been the territory of the Israelite tribe of Dan (Judg 17-18) and was at one time the northern boundary of the Promised Land. At the time of Jesus's ministry, it was part of the tetrarchy of Herod the Great's son Philip with primarily a Gentile population. The city was near the site of a spring that was a source of the Jordan River.
The area had a long tradition as a spiritual site. The original Canaanites built shrines there to the pagan gods Baal-Gad (Josh 11:17; 12:7; 13:5) and Baal-Hermon (Judg 3:3; 1 Chr 5:23). After the Greek conquest in the 4th century BC, the Greeks dedicated a shrine to Pan (pagan god of nature, shepherds, flocks, springs, and fertility) where the headwaters of the Jordan River emerged from the ground (Josephus, Antiquities, 15.10.3 [364]). They also named the nearby town Panias after the Greek god Pan. Then, in the latter part of the 1st century BC, Herod the Great built a temple to Caesar Augustus near the source of the Jordan River. When Herod the Great's son Philip became the ruler of the region, he rebuilt the small town of Panias into a Hellenistic city, naming it after the Roman Caesar and adding his name, hence, Caesarea Philippi. In choosing this rocky mountain location to announce the foundation of His Church upon Peter and his proclamation of faith in Jesus as the divine Messiah, Jesus was reclaiming the holy ground that the pagans had usurped.
13 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 They
replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or
one of the prophets."
Using His favorite title for Himself, Jesus asked His
disciples about the people's views concerning His identity. They responded that
some, like Herod Antipas, thought He was John the Baptist returned from the
dead (Mt 14:2). Others, they said, believed He was the prophet Elijah, prophesied
to herald the coming of the Messiah (Mal 3:23/4:5), or that He had come in the
spirit of the prophet Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.
All the men mentioned by the disciples were prophets. While there had been many false prophets, the people realized that the true spirit of prophecy had been absent from the covenant people of God since the prophet Malachi in the 5th century BC. The people had waited for centuries for the coming of another prophet like Moses, as promised in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. The event of God sending a divinely inspired prophet and an outpouring of God's Spirit (Ezek 36:26-27; Joel 3:1-2) were the signs that the people believed heralded the coming of the Messianic Age. Jesus was teaching with authority, speaking in the symbolic language of the prophets, and performing miracles and symbolic acts like the prophets. Jesus also referred to Himself as a prophet several times (see Mt 13:57; Lk 4:24; 13:33).
15 He said to them, "But who do you [plural] say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
Then Jesus asked the disciples, "But who do you [plural] say that I am?" St. Peter responded to Jesus's question concerning His true identity by confessing that He is not only the promised Davidic "Messiah" but that He is "the Son of the Living God." While the usual meaning of the title "son of God" in the Old Testament referred to a form of adoption as "sons" of God for angels, prophets, the children of Israel, or Davidic kings, this was not the way Peter offered his confession of Jesus's identity.
17 Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you [singular],
Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
but my heavenly Father (emphasis added).
In Jesus's response, He continually addressed Peter in the
singular "you" instead of the plural "you" when he first asked His question, which
tells us that Peter understood Jesus's true identity as the divine Son of God
the Father. The singular "you" also demonstrates that Jesus was not speaking to
the disciples as a group but singled out Peter (see CCC 441-42). Acknowledging
Peter's confession of faith, Jesus blessed him and told the assembled disciples
that Simon-Peter received this knowledge not from any human person ("flesh and
blood") but by the grace of God the Father, Peter received a divine revelation
of Jesus's true nature.
18 And so I say to you [singular], you [singular]
are Peter [Petros], and upon this rock [petra] I will build my Church, and
the gates of the netherworld [Hades] shall not prevail against it.
Jesus was speaking in Aramaic, and this is the Aramaic
translation of the words for "rock" in Jesus's statement: "You are the Rock [Kepa]
and upon this rock [kepa] I will build my Church." In response to Peter's
confession of faith, Jesus reaffirmed the new name He gave him when Jesus first
met him on the banks of the Jordan River before He began His ministry in Galilee.
At that time, Jesus said, "You are Simon the son of John; you will be called
Kephas," which is translated Peter (Jn 1:42; also see
Mk 3:16 and Lk 6:14
for evidence of the earlier name change).
Kephas is the Greek transliteration of the Aramaic word kepa. In the Greek text, Matthew used the masculine Petros for the Greek feminine word for "rock," which is petra. Bible scholars and historians have not found evidence that either Kepha or Petros were personal names before Jesus conferred the title "Rock" on Simon as the leader of the Apostles. Jesus changed his name to symbolize his change in destiny from humble fisherman to the foundation stone of the Messiah's community of disciples that became His Kingdom of the Church.
"You are Simon the son of John...
Notice that Jesus identified the name of Peter's father as
"John" (Yehohanan in Hebrew) in His encounter with Simon in John 1:42.
"John" is also the name given for Peter's father in
John 21:15, 16, and 17. However,
in Matthew 16:17, Jesus called him Simeon bar Jonah (Matthew uses the
Aramaic word for son, "bar" instead of the Hebrew, "ben"). This verse is the
sixth time Jesus mentioned the Galilean prophet Jonah (see
Mt 12:39, 40, 41 twice, and 16:4
or the chart in Handout 1 of Matthew Lesson 16).
Jesus has repeatedly symbolically linked the prophet Jonah to His mission. However,
this time Jesus linked Jonah to Peter's mission. Jonah was a Galilean sent by
God to the Gentile people of Nineveh, the capital city of the region's superpower,
the Assyrian Empire, to tell them to repent and to acknowledge the God of Israel.
Jesus would send the Galilean, Simon-Peter, to Rome, the capital city of the
region's superpower, the Roman Empire, to tell the Gentiles of the Roman world
to repent and to accept Jesus as Lord God and Savior.
Jesus changed Simon's name to Kepha, Rock, Petros in Greek, and Peter in English, a transliteration of the Greek term. A change in the name of a servant of God in Scripture always signified a change in destiny, as in Abram's name change to Abraham (Gen 17:4-5) and Hoshea's name change to Yehoshua/Joshua (Num 13:16). In the Old Testament, "rock" was a word used to describe Abraham as the physical father from whom the children of Israel "were hewn" (Is 51:1-2). Rock is not only an adjective used to describe Peter as the spiritual father of the New Covenant children of God. Jesus used the word as a personal name signifying a change in Simon's destiny as the leader and foundation "rock" of Jesus's Kingdom of the Church (CCC 881). For the word translated "Church" in Matthew 16:18, the Greek text uses ekklesia, meaning "called out ones." It is a word meant to define Jesus's assembly of believers, and in English should be translated as "church" (not community). Ekklesia expresses the same meaning as the Hebrew word for the assembly of the chosen people who were the kahal, the "called out" ones who were called out of the world and into covenant with Yahweh.
and the gates of the netherworld [Hades] shall not
prevail against it.
Hades is the Greek word for the abode of the dead, not the
Hell of the damned. In Hebrew, the realm of the deceased was Sheol. The Jews
believed the "abode of the dead" was like a walled city where its inhabitants
were imprisoned. In this statement, Jesus promised that the power of death would
not overcome His Kingdom of the Church. The Church will overcome death (see
CCC 632-33).
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth shall be loosed in Heaven.
Peter received three spiritual gifts in Jesus's blessing in
verses 17-19. He received divine insight, power, and authority. As Christ's
Vicar, Peter had the authority to forgive sins or to bind them (thus controlling
the entrance into the heavenly kingdom), and Jesus commissioned him as the
leader of the Apostles and the entire community of believers that became the
New Covenant Church.
Jesus elevated Simon-Peter above his fellow Apostles to be
the leader of Jesus's other ministers and the Chief Steward/Vicar of His earthly
Kingdom. Notice the description of the office of the Davidic Vicar/Prime
Minister Eliakim in Isaiah 22:20-24 (see the First Reading):
15 Thus says the LORD [YHWH], to Shebna, master of the
palace: [...] 19 "I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your
station. 20 On that day, I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; 21 I
will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to
him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and
the house of Judah. 22 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. 23
I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot to be a place of honor for his family.
24 On him shall hang all the glory of his family: descendants and offspring,
all the little dishes, from bowls to jugs" (NABRE).
In the same way, Jesus called Peter to serve as the Vicar of Christ the King and have authority over His Kingdom of Heaven on earth, the Church that is the "household/family of Christ. The vicar's leadership role was civil, while the high priest's role was religious, but Peter would serve as both the chief steward of Jesus's Kingdom and the religious authority. Giving Peter the "keys of the kingdom of Heaven" is Peter's official elevation to the office of the Vicar of Christ's Kingdom and the shepherd of the "Good Shepherd's" whole flock (also see Jn 21:15-17; CCC 553). Peter's office and the pastoral office of the other Apostles as Christ's lesser ministers form an apostolic college that belongs to the foundation of the Church. These are offices founded by Christ and continue in the primacy of the Pope and the universal Magisterium of the bishops (CCC 869, 880-81).
Throughout the centuries, the responsibilities of Peter's high office have been passed down to the Vicars of Christ who have succeeded him. The authority of the Popes of the Catholic Church who have succeeded St. Peter is very similar to the Davidic vicars:
Unlike the Davidic Vicar in Isaiah 22:22, Peter received the "keys" plural. The two keys refer to Peter's power to "bind and loose" sins, controlling the keys that give access to the Kingdom of Heaven: the key that releases man from the gates of death in Sheol/Hades and the key that provides entry into the gates of Heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Jesus repeated the authority to "bind and loose" to Peter
and the college of Apostles (Mt 18:18). And Jesus reaffirmed the authority of
this binding power after His Resurrection when He breathed the Holy Spirit upon
the Apostles and told them: "Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me,
so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said
to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained" (Jn 20:21-23).
Jesus gave Peter, the Apostles, and the Popes and Bishops, who are their successors, special powers in using the metaphors of "binding and loosing." Christ's Vicar and the Magisterium exercise power to bind and loose in:
From this event forward, the acknowledgment of Jesus's divine Sonship became the confession of apostolic faith revealed by God, first spoken by Peter and the Apostles and disciples, and repeated by the faithful across the world today. On the rock of this faith confessed by Peter, Christ built His Church (CCC 424).
20 Then, he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one
that he was the Messiah.
According to the Gospel of St. John, these events occurred in
the second year of Jesus's ministry. Jesus warned the disciples not to reveal
His true identity. Such a declaration would intensify the hostility of the
Pharisees and Sadducees, and it is not yet time for the climax of salvation
history's great drama of the revelation of Jesus's true identity as the Divine
Messiah. However, now that His disciples knew His true identity, Jesus began to
prepare them for the traumatic events they were destined to experience.
Catechism References (* indicates Scripture quoted or
paraphrased in the citation):
Psalm 138 (CCC 304*);
138:2 (CCC 214*)
Matthew 16:16-23 (CCC 440*); 16:16 (CCC 424*, 442*); 16:17 (CCC 153*, 442*); 16:16-18 (CCC 881*); 16:18 (CCC 424*, 442*, 552*, 586*, 869*); 16:19 (CCC 553*, 1444*)
The Keys of the Kingdom (CCC 551*, 553*)
Foundations of unity: the College of Bishops with its head, the successor or Peter (CCC 880*, 887)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.