Originally Posted by
necrotic freak
since you want everyone to visit your link. i will also copy n paste this link and let the people here decide for themselves.
Look at the passage carefully:
"And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter (Petros), and on this rock (petra) I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:16-18 RSV)
To whom does Jesus actually give the name "rock"? Himself? No. Faith? No. He gave it to Simon Peter, just as Jesus had promised earlier:
"Jesus looked at him, and said, 'So, you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas' (which means Peter). (John 1:42 RSV)
Jesus gives the new name to "you" (singular pronoun): that is, Simon Peter. And He continues, "you (singular pronoun) are Rock".
Certainly there are other passages that describe Christ as "rock", but these are different passages and different contexts. Further, Jesus is not the only individual Scripture calls "rock". What about Abraham? Scripture quotes God Himself referring to Abraham as "rock"…
Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock [whence] ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit [whence] ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah [that] bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. (Isaiah 51:1-2 KJV)
Obviously this does not contradict passages that call Christ "rock", nor does it mean that Abraham is Christ. Metaphors are used in various contexts in different ways, and the application of the metaphor "rock" to Abraham clearly does not prevent its subsequent application to Jesus or Simon Peter in a different sense and a different context. To argue otherwise is to weave an uneven fabric of passages related merely by their usage of the word "rock", ignoring their different contexts.
Rejecting Peter as "rock" because Christ is "Rock" is a mistake, and requires denying the plain and correct meaning of this unambiguous passage.
In verse 18 Jesus clearly names Simon Peter as "rock". Jesus then expands the metaphor by presenting Himself as the divine builder, Who has designated the foundation upon which He chooses to build His Church. Note that in this metaphor, Jesus is the architect and builder, not the foundation. Just as the Lord "digged" His people from the rock of Abraham, who became "father of many nations" (Genesis 17:5), so also the Lord founded His Church upon the foundation rock of Simon Peter. Do we claim that Peter is equal to Christ, or that Peter is a perfect man, or that he made himself the Rock? Of course not. We simply recognize that Jesus gave Peter a unique and foundational role essential to the structure of the Church.
Jesus gave Peter the authority and assistance to shepherd the Church in right teaching and holy discipline. Therefore,
ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone]; (Ephesians 2:19-20 KJV)
Posting Permissions
