Did The Catholic Church Give Us The Bible + ? - Part Two Series

PART 2

PETER THE LITTLE ROCK

‘In that day, I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” (Isaiah 22:20-22 ESV)

Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered 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 tell you, you are Peter and ON this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.” (Matthew 16:13-30 ESV - emphasis mine)

The "keys of the kingdom of heaven" is a metaphorical expression referring to the custom of admitting a Rabbi to his office by giving him a key (Matthew 16:19). Eliakim alone was to decide who would be accepted into the king's chamber and for whom the king's treasury was to be opened. The symbolism is reproduced in its higher application to Jesus, the King of kings (See Revelation 3:7). Just like Eliakim, the Stewards of great families, especially of the royal household, bore a key or keys in token of their office, the phrase of giving a person the keys naturally grew into use, as an expression of raising them to great authority and power.

Jesus used Peter in helping to build the foundation of the Body of Christ, His Church, as he was the one who first proclaimed the Gospel on the day of Pentecost and the first to take the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 2:14-47,10:1-48). The “rock” (boulder) isn’t Peter’s faith or the truth which he confessed but Jesus Himself, who is the solid foundation and chief cornerstone (Gk: ‘akrogóniaios’) that the body of Christ is built upon (1 Corinthians 3:11,10:4 - See also Ephesians 2:20). In the Old Testament the idea of a rock (Heb: ‘tsur’ – a huge boulder/cliff) was associated with the greatness and steadfastness of God, not with any fallen human (See Deuteronomy 32:4,18; 2 Samuel 22:3,23:3; Psalm 18:2,31,46; Isaiah 17:10; Habakkuk 1:12)

The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that it is Jesus alone who is both the foundation and the head of the universal Church (Acts 4:11,12; 1 Corinthians 3:11; Ephesians 5:23). Using the rules of biblical hermeneutics to exegete the verses there is no way to be 100% sure which view is correct because the grammatical construction allows for either view. It could be that Jesus was declaring Peter would be the "rock" on which He would build His church. Jesus declared that God had revealed this truth to Peter.

The word for "Peter" (Gk: 'petros') means "a small detached stone" (John 1:42). Jesus used a play on words here with "ON this rock" (Gk: 'petra'), which means "a huge attached boulder" when He described the rock upon which the wise man builds his house (Matthew 7:24-25). Peter 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. Jesus used Peter extensively to help build the foundation of the universal Church, as he was the first to proclaim the Gospel on the day of Pentecost and the first to take the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 2:14-47,10:1-48).

Jesus was referring to Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is "the Christ, the son of the living God." Prior to this point, Jesus had never explicitly taught Peter or any of the Disciples about the fullness of His identity as the Creator God of the Universe and Savior of the world, so when Peter made his proclamation, Jesus knew that the Holy Spirit had sovereignly opened Peter's eyes and revealed to him who Jesus really was. Peter's confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah who was prophesied to come, poured out from him as a heartfelt declaration of his personal trusting faith in Jesus, which is the seal of a true Born Again Christian, as well as those who have placed their faith in Jesus are the true church, His Bride. Peter expressed this when he addressed the believers who had been dispersed around the ancient world: