What did Jesus mean when He told Peter he was the rock he would build his church upon?

EvangAlived

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Many claim that because Jesus said that to Peter, that Peter became the first pope and that proves the Roman Catholic Church is the only true Christian church. Thoughts?
A few thoughts, in brief, though I have a detailed study on this, is:

1. that God, even Jesus Christ, is the 'Rock' all through scripture.

2. go back to Mat. 16:5-12 for greater help. Notice the disciples had just been told something important, and that which was stated is directly tied to Mat. 6:13-20.

3. read Mat. 7:24-27; Luk. 6:46-49 and see that the rock is God's word, even what Jesus taught and did.

4. understand that the rock of God's word in Mat. 7:24-27 is also a reference to the Ten Commandments, which were written upon stone from the throne of God.

5. for the 'Greeks', consider that GNT TR word for Peter (G4074 N-NSM) is differing than Rock (G4073 N-DSF). Petros (G4074 N-NSM (Noun-Nominative Singular Masculine)) and Petra (G4073 N-DSF (Noun-Dative Singular Feminine)). (they will generally go the Aramaic route (which is incorrect) at that point, but the argument is still in error, just takes more detail to show it)

6. Peter himself identifies the rock in his epistles, 1 Pet. 2:6-8. and never anywhere in scripture identifies himself as that rock.

7. Paul in Rom. 9:33; 1 Cor. 10:4 also refers to the same rock and does not identify anywhere in scripture that Peter was that rock, but instead even has to rebuke, in love, the backsliding of Peter in Gal. 2:11-14.

The context reveals that the thought came from the Father through Peter, by the Holy Ghost, and is the 'confession'. Jesus says that this confession that Jesus is the Messiah (Christ the son of the living God) is the truth from God (the Father, through the Holy Ghost). Later, Peter makes another 'confession' in that he did not want Jesus to go to die at Jerusalem, and Jesus said that that 'confession' came from satan.

Peter is not the focus. The two confessions are and their origins.
 
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Bob Crowley

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Peter IS the focus of Christ's statement, and no amount of circular reasoning will explain that away.

As for the Greek translation bit, Christ spoke Aramaic, not Greek, and when He stated Peter was the Rock, he would have used the word "kepha", which simply means rock.

But Greek nouns have gender, and while i don't know Greek, when the Gospels were being written in Greek, the vagaries of Koine Greek grammar meant that the word ended up with two genders, depending on context.

I did German at school, and while I've forgotten most of it, I remember enough to know that German nouns also have gender - male, female and neutral. In English nouns are all neutral, and use the qualifier "the" for the whole lot eg. "the table, the car, the house, the boy, the girl etc."

But if I translate the English neutral word "table" to German, it takes on a male context "der Tisch". Same story with translating the spoken Aramaic "kepha" (neutral) to the Koine Greek in which both petros and petra simply meant "rock."

And the crystal clear focus of Christ's statement was Peter. It's there in black and white, and very straight forward.
 
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TexFire316

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Many claim that because Jesus said that to Peter, that Peter became the first pope and that proves the Roman Catholic Church is the only true Christian church. Thoughts?
I doubt that Jesus was saying that Peter was the rock, when the other Scriptures identify Jesus Himself as the rock. [Staff edit]. Seek after the Father with your whole heart. The only way to the Father is through His Son, Jesus the Christ. We are the church, me and all of my brothers and sisters. Jesus is our Rock. He did all that He did to reconcile us back to the Father. Perhaps it is time that we quit worshipping our religions and seek after the Father?
 
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concretecamper

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Many claim that because Jesus said that to Peter, that Peter became the first pope and that proves the Roman Catholic Church is the only true Christian church. Thoughts?

St. Ambrose, c. 397: “Where Peter is, there is the Church; where the Church is, there is no death, but eternal life.”
 
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Kaon

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Many claim that because Jesus said that to Peter, that Peter became the first pope and that proves the Roman Catholic Church is the only true Christian church. Thoughts?

The Word of God already said an edifice isn't needed to have fellowship, and He spent a bunch of His ministry preaching against the organized religion of the Pharisees.

(Simon) Peter was the first person He recruited as one of His 12; clearly He is a founding part of the free body of Israel - who believes in and trust the Redeemer.


But the Redeemer is the cornerstone; in masonry, the cornerstone is what you build around to erect an edifice. It is the main foundation, and is usually the last to stand should anything happen to the building.
 
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Tayla

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Many claim that because Jesus said that to Peter, that Peter became the first pope and that proves the Roman Catholic Church is the only true Christian church.
Peter guided the early church. That's all it means. The Church was built upon Peter's confession of faith.
 
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usexpat97

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Peter guided the early church. That's all it means. The Church was built upon Peter's confession of faith.

This. Jesus didn't call Peter the rock, so much as He called Peter's faith in Jesus as the Christ the rock. So Peter and Jesus are both the rock; as part of the same thing.
 
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Many claim that because Jesus said that to Peter, that Peter became the first pope and that proves the Roman Catholic Church is the only true Christian church. Thoughts?

I think that Jesus was being ironic. The Bible in a number of passages records Peter as being more like a pebble than a rock.
 
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~Anastasia~

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This. Jesus didn't call Peter the rock, so much as He called Peter's faith in Jesus as the Christ the rock. So Peter and Jesus are both the rock; as part of the same thing.
This is also the recorded position of many of the early Church fathers on the question.

Though obviously it has led to debate which persists even until today.
 
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Yekcidmij

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Many claim that because Jesus said that to Peter, that Peter became the first pope and that proves the Roman Catholic Church is the only true Christian church. Thoughts?

In the parable of the sower (Matt 13:5), the "petra" was the rocky ground that where the seeds were sown, sprang up quickly because they had no root and were scorched in the sun. Peter heard God's word, was eager to follow and obey, but withered quickly by failing to understand Jesus and ultimately denying Jesus 3 times. In fact, no sooner had Peter confessed, that he is called "satan" (16:23) for his failure to understand Jesus and setting his mind on man's interest.

This seems to be a recuring theme for Peter where he initially hears but withers quickly. He is more than eager to walk on water only to quickly fail by not focusing on Jesus. He promises to stand by Jesus (by which he may have assumed that fighting would be involved), but denies Jesus and quickly hides. He confesses Jesus as the Christ but then immediately trips up on what exactly that means.

Peter's story is all of the apostle's stories. It's the same problem confronting Matthew's Jewish audience: a suffering messiah who had to die on a cross. Peter, the "apostle to the Jews" (as Paul says) struggled with the same issues that his Jewish hearers would have been struggling with. And it's on this "rocky" understanding that Jesus built his church. In Matt 18:18 all the apostles were given the authority to "bind and loose," not just Peter. In Matthew, after Jesus' resurrection, Peter is not singled out again; rather, it's all of the apostles who were given authority to go, make, baptize, and teach disciples.

It may be fair to say that in Matthew, being the "rock" was something of a negative and reflected Peter's failure to understand Jesus.

1) http://markgoodacre.org/peter.pdf
 
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tz620q

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[Staff edit].

I am sure you have found this but it is from St. Ambrose's "Commentaries on Twelve of David's Psalms" for Psalm 40 (not sure if this is the Vulgate numbering or the AV). If it is the AV Psalm 40, then it might be referring to this line:
Psalm 40:2
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.


The translations do not seem to be online, so we will have to find a hard copy to get the context within the commentary. It is not in Schaff's "The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of The Christian Church". I did find another quote from the same commentaries here
"The Lord says to Peter: “I say to you,” He says, “that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever things you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, they shall be loosed also in heaven” [Matt. 16:18-19]. And again He says to him after His resurrection: “Feed my sheep” [John 21:17]. On him He builds the Church, and to him He gives the command to feed the sheep; and although He assigns a like power to all the Apostles, yet He founded a single chair, and He established by His own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was; but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the Apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?"
 
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Root of Jesse

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Hopefully, many Catholics will be looking to Christ, not to bishops, for Truth and guidance and who to follow.
We always look to Christ, through the Bishops, the pope and the Saints and Mary for Truth and guidance. We know who to follow.
 
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Root of Jesse

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In the parable of the sower (Matt 13:5), the "petra" was the rocky ground that where the seeds were sown, sprang up quickly because they had no root and were scorched in the sun. Peter heard God's word, was eager to follow and obey, but withered quickly by failing to understand Jesus and ultimately denying Jesus 3 times. In fact, no sooner had Peter confessed, that he is called "satan" (16:23) for his failure to understand Jesus and setting his mind on man's interest.

This seems to be a recuring theme for Peter where he initially hears but withers quickly. He is more than eager to walk on water only to quickly fail by not focusing on Jesus. He promises to stand by Jesus (by which he may have assumed that fighting would be involved), but denies Jesus and quickly hides. He confesses Jesus as the Christ but then immediately trips up on what exactly that means.

Peter's story is all of the apostle's stories. It's the same problem confronting Matthew's Jewish audience: a suffering messiah who had to die on a cross. Peter, the "apostle to the Jews" (as Paul says) struggled with the same issues that his Jewish hearers would have been struggling with. And it's on this "rocky" understanding that Jesus built his church. In Matt 18:18 all the apostles were given the authority to "bind and loose," not just Peter. In Matthew, after Jesus' resurrection, Peter is not singled out again; rather, it's all of the apostles who were given authority to go, make, baptize, and teach disciples.

It may be fair to say that in Matthew, being the "rock" was something of a negative and reflected Peter's failure to understand Jesus.

1) http://markgoodacre.org/peter.pdf
Unfortunately, Jesus didn't call Simon Bar Jonah 'Petra'. He called him 'Kepha' or 'Kephas'.
Regarding the story of Peter, you are paying attention to his life before the day of Pentecost. Peter's life actually changed completely when Jesus asked him, on the shore at Galilee, "Simon, son of John, do you agape me?' Three times. And Peter answered him "Lord, you know that I filio you.' Twice. The third time, Jesus accepted Peter's filio.
 
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Root of Jesse

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Every bishop who confesses Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God, is Peter.
To his flock, anyway. Peter's flock is every Christian on Earth. Bishops' flocks are more...local.
 
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Yekcidmij

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Unfortunately, Jesus didn't call Simon Bar Jonah 'Petra'. He called him 'Kepha' or 'Kephas'.

I'm just going by what's written in Matthew, and Matthew is written in Greek. I'm not speculating on the exact words Jesus did or didn't use or whether or not what Matthew wrote was really spoken verbatim in Aramaic. I'm only looking at what Matthew wrote as that's what I have to go by. Matthew could easily have rendered the words in Aramaic (5:22, 27:46), but he didn't.

Regarding the story of Peter, you are paying attention to his life before the day of Pentecost.

I'm paying attention to the picture presented by Matthew.
 
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Root of Jesse

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I'm just going by what's written in Matthew, and Matthew is written in Greek. I'm not speculating on the exact words Jesus did or didn't use or whether or not what Matthew wrote was really spoken verbatim in Aramaic. I'm only looking at what Matthew wrote as that's what I have to go by. Matthew could easily have rendered the words in Aramaic (5:22, 27:46), but he didn't.



I'm paying attention to the picture presented by Matthew.
Matthew wasn't written in Greek. It was translated into Greek. John and Mark show us Peter being Kepha, Cephas, and Acts as well.

By looking only at Matthew, you're not taking the rest of the Gospels into account.
 
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