Posted on 02/04/2002 12:55:13 PM PST by Sir Gawain
Was Peter the "Rock"?
Question: Was Peter the "rock" on which Jesus will build His church?
Answer: Here is the passage that you are referring to:
Matthew 16:13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
Matthew 16:14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
Matthew 16:15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 16:18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it."
The Greek word for Peter is petros, meaning "a pebble." The Greek word for rock is petra, meaning "a massive rock" such as bedrock. Jesus is the Rock, petra. Everyone who receives this revelation from the Father like Peter received itthat Jesus is the Son of God (Lord and Savior)becomes a part of His Church.
Christ used the word petra when He told the parable of the man building a house upon a rock to illustrate its size.
Matthew 7:24-25 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock (petra). And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock (petra)."
Jesus was talking about building upon bedrock, not a pebble.
The apostle Paul tells us that Jesus is the foundation upon which we build our lives:
1 Cor. 3:11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
The apostle Peter also informed up that every believer is a "stone" and that Jesus Christ is the "cornerstone" or foundation.
1 Peter 2:4-6 And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: "Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed."
Every believer is a stone in Christs Church. Peter was not the rock, but just one of many who are a part of this spiritual house of worship.
Jesus was still a young child when Herod died, and the family returned to Israel. Jesus wasn't a carpenter in Egypt. Also, there was only one Aramaic word for those who worked in the construction industry and who weren't masons. In fact, Joseph and Jesus were architects, hence their advanced education.
In fact... he's said a mountainfull. As Jesus, in effect, observed.
Dan
Chapter and verse, please?
SD
Sola Scripture Dave ..
#1, the passage you quote is Jesus speaking to the Pharisees of the day, not to what you imagine is the failings of the Catholic (or any) church.
#2, this passage in no way says what you say, that the church soon drifted into error and the keys were taken away..
So, chapter and verse please. Where does the Bible say that the keys given to Peter would soon be taken away?
SD
What does that prove? EVERY single organized religion that has ever been invented has fallen into error. Self-righteousness is only a figment of one's imagination. :-)
........7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, ......
[In Vain]
Was Peter the "Rock"?
Was Peter the "Christ"?
The Messiah is the "Rock of Ages"
The "Rock of Ages" of Israel is God Himself!
Done!
Yes it is Dave, and I would argue that God is the same yesterday today and tomorrow..and what was an abomination to Him then is an abomination to Him today.
Malachi
3:6"For I [am] the LORD, I change not..."
God raised up men to bring the word back to the place he intended it.
Why would Jesus say, "You are Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church" if he didn't mean Peter was the rock? Why change Simon's name at all? Do we know that Jesus used gestures to mean the rock was He? No, because that's not in there. Why would Jesus give Peter the keys to the kingdom of Heaven if he was a mere pebble? Why Peter? Why not Paul? Or John? Or Matthew?
I agree with you that the Gospel is of course about Who is Jesus? What did He say? What did He do? Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, and in that His flesh died, his body resurrected, and He is in heaven with His Father. Does that mean there is no church? That the church is in heaven, and were are but a bunch of spiritual beings loosely joined by our agreement that Jesus Christ died for our sins and our salvation?
I do believe that Jesus Christ established his church on earth, that He made Peter the foundation for His church, and that we have apostolic succession from then to now through the Bishop of Rome. The apostles looked to Peter, knowing he had the authority from Jesus Himself, for answers, as written in the New Testament. Early church fathers never disputed the primacy of Peter. Does this mean that Peter is equal to God or that we worship him? Of course not. We only worship God.
I know that Mt 16:18 is arguably the biggest sticking point between Catholics and other Christians, and I am sorry about that. I pray someday that we will be unified again. Until then, we have so much we agree on. And there is so much work here on Earth to do that we can join together in. For example, I am very involved in the pro-life community. I have many Protestant friends who help in pro-life work. By working together to end the horrors of abortion, we know that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and can love each other, even if today we don't agree.
God bless.
The one thing that does not change is the word of God.
You can not justify killing your neighbor because another neighbor killed his..You can not use the error or sin of another to justify your error.That is why it is dangerous to bulid your faith on anything but Christ
It is never Jesus + someting
Salvation is of our God.
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