Posted on 09/03/2014 6:36:07 AM PDT by NKP_Vet
I have never understood how a reasonably educated human being could look at the full context of Matthew 16, along with the rest of the Bible, and conclude that God is going to build anything, much less an Eternal Church, on Peter. You have to really butcher the text to drag that out, breaking all sorts of grammatical rules. And just a couple of verses later, Peter, “the rock”, gets rebuked by Jesus for channeling the enemy’s plans to stop Jesus from his mission!
Peter was an essential part of the spread of the Gospel, but he is not and will never be - the Son of God, the Lamb, the Last Adam, the Word, our Savior, the Alpha & Omega, Head of the Body of Christ, or even the Rock.
One of the keys to unlocking the verse is the emphatic “this”. Its almost like Jesus is pointing to himself as in:
Destroy THIS temple, and in three days I will raise it up. (John 2:19)
THIS is that bread which came down from heaven. (John 6:58)
Jesus is not talking about the temple, manna, or even Peter, Jesus is referring to himself, or more precisely in this case, Peter’s confession of Jesus. Note that the religious misunderstood Jesus in the other two cases.
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. — Psalm 119:30 always gives me hope for the confused and lost, since even the simple can understand God’s Word when they open their eyes and ears.
Thanks for continuing to type the Truth. Peter’s own testimony in his letter should put this idea to bed. And I would add his Holy Spirit inspired message in Acts 4:8-12. Both should trigger some serious spiritual reflection. God’s Word does not contradict itself when rightly divided.
In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. - 2 Corinthians 13:1
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