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Is Peter the Rock in Matthew 16:18?


Jesus threw a question to his disciples. "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?

Matthew 16:16.
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16:17-18
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it"

This scripture has been a subject-matter of endless controversies over the years. Is Peter the rock which Christ will build His church or Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Many have attributed this interaction to mean that the church of Jesus Christ was built upon peter. It is no doubt that God used Apostle Peter tremendously in the foundation of the church. It should be noted that Peter was the very first who with boldness proclaimed the Gospel on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-47). It is also recorded that he was the the first to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-48). Without any doubt therefore, Peter played a prominent role in the establishment of the church in the new testament.
The actual representation of Christ's assertion is “You are Peter (petros) and on this rock (petra) I will build my church.”
The name Peter means Petros in greek which means “rock” or “rock-man.” Christ used petra (upon this rock...petra equates to a massive foundation stone, too large to be moved), not a name but the truth that Peter revealed when he said “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”.Jesus did not say “upon you, Peter” or “upon your successors,” but “upon this rock-upon this divine revelation and profession of faith in Christ.

It must be pointed out that the original language of the New Testament was written in Greek. Jesus used 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.... “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock" Peter himself uses the same imagery in his first epistle: the church is built of numerous small petros “living stones” (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.
It will be wrong therefore to assume out of wrong teaching that the church of Jesus Christ who we are celebrating his death today has it's solid foundation a human person. Peter will not be happy to hear about that. However, the New Testament made it clear that Christ is both the foundation as seen in Acts 4:11-2; Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 1 Corinthians 3:11 also said
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.(NIV) Jesus is also the head of the church as recorded in Ephesians 5:23 " For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior"

May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ bless you immensely on this auspicious occasion and brings the revelation of his word to you. May you have a pleasant Easter. Happy Good Friday to my friends. Love you all.

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