We’re in perfect agreement. The Good Confession was a very, VERY big deal. It’s all about the identity of Jesus. In the passage, Jesus has just asked the disciples who people were identifying Him as. They answered, ‘some say John the Baptist some say Elijah, or one of the prophets.’
Then comes the big question. ‘But who do YOU say that I am?’
Peter identifies Jesus as, ‘The Christ, the Son of the living God.’
In context, he’s calling Jesus God Himself. That’s a game-changing, earth shaking statement.
And it is upon this confession—the testimony that Jesus is both Messiah and God—that the church is built, as the rest of the NT makes clear.
1 Corinthians 12:3
Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
1 John 2:23
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
Thank you for putting the “rock verse” in its entire context. People just grab that one verse without knowing anything about the discussion that precedes it. In context, it makes perfect sense.
It’s like people taking Matthew 7:1 out of context saying it means that nobody can ever judge another person. It was told to the Pharisees, and was situation specific. In fact, half of the Bible is about judging, how to do it, when to do it, etc.