BIBLE REFERENCE:
“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18
ENCOURAGING WORD:
This verse is one of the most widely misunderstood verses in the Catholic Sect of Christianity. Let me say right up front, Jesus Christ is the Rock, Peter is not. The verse in Matthew 16:18 is not declaring that Peter is the rock. Let’s read the rest of this conversation between Jesus and His disciples.
Matthew 16:13-18; “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they
said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this Rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Jesus asked His disciples who do the people say that the Son of Man is. They answered by saying “John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus cut them to the quick and asked His disciples who they (His Disciples) say He is. Peter spoke up and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responds with an astounding reply, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock (Peters Statement) I will build My church,” Read it again and pay attention to the text in which it is written. Jesus is not declaring that Peter is the rock. Peters statement, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” is declaring that Jesus is the Rock and Jesus is telling Peter that His statement is correct. It’s on His Statement that Jesus will build His church, not on Peter.
Listen to what this verse is declaring: Acts 2:46-47; “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord (Jesus) added to the church daily those who were being saved.” Who added to the church daily, that was Jesus, not Peter!
Also, just to set the record straight, Peter is not the first Pope. Peter was a Jew and He was Married. Two facts that would eliminate Peter from being Pope according to the Catholic Faith.
I’m going to share some verses in the scriptures that prove what I just said.
Psalm 18:31; “For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a Rock, except our God?
I’m going to ask this same question throughout these scriptures. Who does it say is the Rock, Obviously Jesus is the correct answer. Not Peter.
Psalm 62: 1-2; “Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. He only is my Rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.”
Once again, it is very obvious who the Rock is in this verse.
Psalm 31:3; “For You are my Rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, Lead me and guide me.”
This is a Psalm of King David. David is declaring that Jesus Christ is the Rock.
1 Samuel 2:2; “No one is holy like the Lord, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any Rock like our God.”
This is a prayer from Hannah, the mother of Sanuel. The story of Hannah is found in 1 Samuel 1:2 – 2:21 in which an infertile woman struggles to find self-worth. Yet through faith in God, she becomes the mother of Samuel the prophet, who would anoint Israel's first king, Saul, and Israel's greatest king, David. Even Hannah acknowledged that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the Rock.
The next couple of verses are also written from King David, the servant of the Lord. David spoke to the Lord the Words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. David said;
Psalm 18:1-2; “I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my Rock and my fortress and my deliverer;My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” All through the Psalms David aways refers the God as the Rock.
Matthew 7:24; “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the Rock.” Jesus is comparing a house built on a Rock compared to sand. Lets read the next couple of verses .
Matthew 7:25-27; “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the Rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
In the same way, if we build our foundation on Jesus Christ, the Rock, we will not fall. If we build our foundation on anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ, great will be our fall. In other words, if you build your salvation on Peter or any other mortal man, your house will fall.
Deuteronomy 32:4; “He (God) is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.”
Even as far back as when Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, He already referred to God as the Rock.
“You are Peter [Petros] and on this Rock [Petra] I will build my church.” Petros can mean rock or stone. In the text in which this is written, it is referring to a stone. Petra can also mean rock or stone. The way this should be read is: You are [Petros] little stone, and on this Rock [Petra] Jesus, I will build my church.”
After Jesus declares that God the Father had revealed the truth to Peter, He says, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church” The word for “Peter,” Petros, is a masculine noun that means “a detached stone, a stone that might be thrown or easily moved” The word for “rock” next mentioned is a different Greek word, Petra, a feminine noun that means “a mass of rock” or “a cliff” and therefore something foundational. The difference in the two terms may suggest that Jesus was contrasting Peter with Himself. That is, Jesus was saying, “You are the small stone, but I am the foundation of the church.” This view finds support in other passages that present Christ, not Peter, as the foundation of the church.
1 Corinthians 3:11; “ For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And that is the life-giving Rock;
1 Corinthians 10:4; “ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”
A lesson from the Old Testament where we read; “While journeying from Egypt to Canaan through the wilderness the children of Israel had their thirst quenched or satisfied twice miraculously by water from the Rock.
Exodus 17:1-6; “Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?” And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!” And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”
Obviously, God was using that to foreshadow His plan and provision to satisfy the thirst of all wearied souls through Christ Jesus.
The Scripture later reveals that it was not just ordinary water they drank but a spiritual drink and that the rock was not an ordinary rock but a spiritual Rock, Christ Jesus.
Of course, the apostles played a foundational role in the building of the church, but the role of primacy is reserved for Christ alone. So, Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:18, as we read previously, are best interpreted as a simple play on words: a boulder-like, foundational truth came from the mouth of one who was called a small stone.Christ Himself is called the “Chief Cornerstone”
1 Peter 2:6–7; “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The Stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,”
The word “stone” in this verse is referring to Jesus, not Peter. Peter is not the Chief Cornerstone. Throughout the Bible there are verses that apply the word “stone” to Jesus Christ, but there is no place in the scriptures that apply the word rock to Peter.
Even Peter in his first letter acknowledged Jesus as the Rock. Peter did not ever refer to himself as the Rock.
Matthew 21:42; “Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The Stone (Jesus) which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
The chief cornerstone of any building was that upon which a building is anchored. If Christ declared Himself to be the Cornerstone, how could Peter be the rock upon which the church was built? Believers are the stones that make up the church. They are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (not just Peter) and anchored to the Cornerstone (Jesus).
Ephesians 2:20; “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone,.”
The one who trusts in [Christ] will never be put to shame”
1 Peter 2:6b; “And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”The Roman Catholic Church argues that Peter is the rock upon which Jesus built His church, bestow upon Peter the title of pope, and claims to be the one true church. As we have seen, however, identifying the rock as Peter is an invalid interpretation of Matthew 16:18. Even if Peter is the rock upon which Jesus promised to build His church, it does not give the Roman Catholic Church any authority. Scripture nowhere records Peter being in Rome. Scripture nowhere describes Peter as being supreme over the other apostles. If anything, John would be supreme over the other disciples because Jesus always refers to John as the disciple He loved.
John 21:20; “Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved (John) following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?”
John 21:7; “Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea.”
John was the only disciple that was not martyred, God did not let John die. God had another assignment for John, and that was to write the book of Revelation. John wrote five books in the Bible, The Gospel of John 1st, 2nd and 3rd John and the book of Revelation.
The New Testament does not describe Peter as being the all-authoritative leader of the early church. The origin of the Catholic Church is not in the teachings of Peter or any other apostle. If Peter truly was the founder of the Roman Catholic Church, it would be in full agreement with what Peter taught Acts 2, 1 Peter, 2 Peter.
There is no place in the Bible that even hints that Peter is the rock or the Pope of the Catholic church. There is one verse that has been taken way out of context that the Catholic church built a whole doctrine on. One verse out of the whole Bible. The rest of the Bible clearly declares that Jesus Christ is the Rock of our Salvation and before Jesus came on the scene the Rock was always referred to as God.
The Bible refers to Jesus as a rock in relation to both believers and unbelievers. To those who put their faith in Him, He is the Rock upon which they build their lives Matthew 7:24–29; 16:13–20, as we just read previously. As the solid foundation of the Christian life, Jesus is our Rock of Salvation;
2 Samuel 22:47; “The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation!
Jesus is the Rock that causes non-believers to trip and fall to their own ruin. A person can either put his faith in Jesus Christ and receive life eternal or stumble over Him and face eternal judgment.
Peter’s illustration of Jesus as a rock of offense to unbelievers is drawn from;
Isaiah 8:14; “He (Jesus) will be as a sanctuary, But a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense. To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem”.
Rock of offense literally means “stumbling block.” Anyone who rejects Jesus Christ stumbles and falls over. It is he who, by refusing to see or acknowledge that Jesus is the foundation of spiritual life and relationship with God who will fall. The Jews stumbled over their Messiah, so much so that they crucified Him. Paul said he would “preach Christ crucified” even though his message was “a stumbling block to Jews”.
The apostle Paul also quoted this Old Testament verse in Isaiah 8:14; to show that Israel’s unbelief in the past had continued into the present.
Romans 9:32–33, “Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.”
Israel had rejected the Lord in the days of Isaiah just as the Jewish people of the first century rejected Jesus Christ. This rejection will remain in place until half way through the seven tribulation when “The Abomination of Desolation” will take place. That is when Satan will stand at the Holy of Holies and proclaim himself to be God. That is when the eyes of Israel will be opened, and they will acknowledge that Jesus Christ was their Messiah all this time.
1 Corinthians 1:23; “but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
The Jews were expecting a mighty king figure who would overthrow Rome and establish His kingdom on earth. Instead, they encountered in Jesus a lowly servant who would suffer and die. Jesus came the first time as a suffering servant to save the world from sin. He will come again as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
“The Jews stumbled because they did not obey God’s Word, and so they met the fate that was planned for them as we read in;
1 Peter 2:8, “and “A stone of stumbling And a Rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.”
Here Peter explains why unbelievers stumble over the cornerstone—because they disobey the Word of God. They refuse to believe the gospel message. They aren’t accidentally stumbling over the rock of offense as people sometimes trip and fall while walking. Peter speaks of willful rebellion. They do not want to submit to God as the Lord over their lives. Thus, if someone rejects Christ, that person’s refusal becomes his own undoing.Peter comforted his readers by showing that this rejection of Jesus was predicted long ago in the Old Testament and was part of God’s sovereign plan. Those who crucified Jesus had served God’s purpose: “For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. But everything they did was determined beforehand according to Gods will”
Acts 4:27–28; “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.”
Despite their rejection and stumbling over the Rock of offense, their actions worked to put God’s chief cornerstone in place.In a parable, Jesus revealed that He was God’s chosen cornerstone;
Luke 20:17; “Then He looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone”.
He warned that God’s judgment would fall on all unbelievers who rejected Him: “Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on”
Luke 20:18; “Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
Those who deny Christ will come under God’s judgment since the Lord has determined that people will either stand or fall based on whether or not they believe in Jesus. Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation; to stumble and reject Him is to send oneself to destruction:
If you are believing all the lies of deception that are being taught throughout the world, you will perish into the Lake of Burning Fire for all eternity. The only truth is in the Bible and if you seek truth elsewhere, you can be sure that what you are hearing is false. Satan is behind all the lies and evil that is permeating throughout our so-called Christian churches.
“Jesus is always the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become cornerstone. ‘There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved”
Acts 4:11–12; “ This is the ‘stone, which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
See also John 3:16; Perhaps the most well-known verse in the Bible; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 14:6; “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Romans 5:1–2; “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
To God the Father, Jesus Christ is the living stone, chosen and precious 1 Peter 2:4; “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,”
To believers, He is our dependable rock of salvation Psalm 18:2; “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
To the unbelieving world, Jesus is the rejected rock of offense that causes them to stumble. Sadly, far too many people, both the religious and the worldly, continue to trip over Him today.
Let me end with this. I know after reading this message I will be hated and despised for telling the truth. Let me share a verse that comforts me. Jesus said;
John 15:18-21; “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.”
So, in other words, if you are angry with me or you hate me because of what I wrote, it’s not me you hate, it is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. I am called to share the Word of God, but based on the scriptures, not many will hear the Word of God as it was meant to be understood. I will continue to share the truth of the Bible in hopes of reaching those I love and hopefully a few more people who will listen and be Saved. You need Jesus in your life to be saved. Outside of Jesus, there is no hope for salvation. I’m going to share this last verse with you that should wake everybody up.
Matthew 7:13-14; “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Will you be one of the few or will you be numbered with the many who will perish into the Lake of Burning Fire. Few means a few! If you hate me, know this, I love you! If I didn’t, I would stop what I am doing.
All these verses come straight out of the Word of God. So, are you going to believe the Word of God, or are you going to follow the ways of man? Its your choice and I can only hope and pray that you make the right choice.
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
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