What is the rock in Matthew 16:18?

Response

The ongoing debate revolves around whether “the rock” on which Christ will establish His church is Peter or Peter’s acknowledgment that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” «And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. », (Matthew 16:16). Truthfully, there is no definitive way for us to be completely certain which perspective is accurate. The grammatical structure allows for either interpretation. The initial perspective suggests that Jesus was indicating that Peter would be the “rock” on which He would establish His church. Jesus seems to be playing with words. “You are Peter (petros) and on this rock (petra) I will build my church.” Given that Peter’s name means rock, and Jesus intends to establish His church on a rock, it seems that Christ is connecting the two. God used Peter significantly in laying the foundation of the church. Peter was the first to proclaim the Gospel on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-47). Additionally, Peter was the first to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-48). In a way, Peter was the foundational “rock” of the church.

The other prevalent interpretation of the rock is that Jesus was not referring to Peter but to Peter’s declaration of faith in verse 16: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus had never explicitly taught Peter and the other disciples the full extent of His identity, and He acknowledged that God had sovereignly opened Peter’s eyes and revealed to him who Jesus truly was. Peter’s confession of Christ as the Messiah flowed from him, a sincere affirmation of Peter’s personal faith in Jesus. It is this personal faith in Christ that distinguishes a genuine Christian. Those who have placed their faith in Christ, as Peter did, constitute the church. PePeter expresses this in 1 Peter 2:4 when he addressed the believers who had been dispersed around the ancient world: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

At this point, Jesus declares that God had revealed this truth to Peter. The word for “Peter,” Petros, means “a small stone” «And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. », (John 1:42). Jesus used a play on words here with petra (“on this rock”) which means “a foundation boulder,” as in Matthew 7:24, 25 when He described the rock upon which the wise man builds his house. Peter himself uses the same imagery in his first epistle: the church is built of numerous small petros, “living stones,” «ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. », (1 Peter 2:5) who, like Peter, confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and those confessions of faith are the bedrock of the church.

In addition, the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that Christ is both the foundation (Acts 4:11, 12;1 Corinthians 3:11) and the head «For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. », (Ephesians 5:23) of the church. It is a mistake to think that here He is giving either of those roles to Peter.There is a sense in which the apostles played a foundational role in the building of the church «and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; », (Ephesians 2:20), but the role of primacy is reserved for Christ alone, not assigned to Peter. So, Jesus’ words here are best interpreted as a simple play on words in that a boulder-like truth came from the mouth of one who was called a small stone. And Christ Himself is called the “chief cornerstone” «Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: And he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. », (1 Peter 2:6,7) «Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, The stone which the builders disallowed, The same is made the head of the corner, », (1 Peter 2:6,7). The chief cornerstone of any building was that upon which the building was anchored. If Christ declared Himself to be the cornerstone, how could Peter be the rock upon which the church was built? It is more likely that the believers, of which Peter is one, are the stones which make up the church, anchored upon the Cornerstone, “and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame” «Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: And he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. », (1 Peter 2:6).

The Roman Catholic Church uses the argument that Peter is the rock to which Jesus referred as evidence that it is the one true church. As we have seen, Peter’s being the rock is not the only valid interpretation of this.

Verse. Even if Peter is the rock in Matthew 16:18, this is insignificant in granting the Roman Catholic Church any authority. Scripture does not mention Peter being in Rome. Scripture does not portray Peter as supreme over the other apostles. The New Testament does not depict Peter as the “all authoritative leader” of the early Christian church. Peter was not the initial pope, and Peter did not establish the Roman Catholic Church. The inception of the Catholic Church is not rooted in the teachings of Peter or any other apostle. If Peter indeed was the initiator of the Roman Catholic Church, it would be in complete harmony with what Peter taught (Acts chapter 2, 1 Peter, 2 Peter).