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Peter, the disciples' usual spokesman, answers:
"You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God. Jesus replied, Blessed are
you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in
heaven" (verses 16, 17, N.I.V.).
Peter had once before made this great confession (John 6: 69), but possibly he had not
realized its fullness then. Now, by the Father's revelation, he understands that Christ is
truly the great Messiah promised by the O.T. Scriptures.
The Lord Jesus accepts this and thereby claims the statement to be true. He now says:
"And I (emphatic) tell you that you are Peter (petros), and on this rock (petra) I will
build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of
the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (verses 18, 19, N.I.V.).
Christ says in effect, "the Father has revealed one truth to you, and I also tell you
another". We now come to statements which have caused volumes of controversy and
endless theological strife. The Lord calls Peter (petros), the name He said he would have
(John 1: 42), and then adds "and upon this rock (petra) I will build My church". Petros
means a detached stone or boulder, whereas petra, the feminine form of the word, means
a mass of rock like that of Matt. 7: 24 on which a wise man built his house, or a rock in
which a tomb is hewn (27: 60).
Some have said that too much must not be made of this distinction because probably
Christ spoke Aramaic, which draws no such distinction. We cannot be sure whether
Christ spoke in Aramaic or Greek and therefore weighty doctrine cannot be placed on the
Aramaic word, whereas this verse in Greek is part of God-breathed Scripture
(II.Tim.iii.16), and the Evangelist is therefore expressing the mind of the Holy Spirit.
The petra cannot refer to Peter personally, for if so, there was no need of the word petra
after Petros. It would have read "upon you I will build My church". Petra pointed to
something solid and immovable in contrast to a stone, a solid foundation upon which this
assembly can safely rest. The designation rock is used in the O.T., but it is never given to
men: but always to Jehovah. "He is the Rock" (Deut. 32: 4). "Who is a rock, save our
God?" (II Sam. 22: 32). "In the Lord Jehovah is the rock of ages" (margin, Isa. 26: 4).
"I will say unto God my rock" (Psa. 42: 9). He says Himself, "Is there a God beside
Me? Yea, there is no Rock (A.V. margin, see R.V. & N.I.V.), I know not any"
(Isa.xliv.8). This is likewise emphasized by the Apostle Paul in I Cor. 3: 11 "other
foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ".
God then, God in Christ and His Word (see Matt. 7: 24-27), is the only rock
foundation upon which the redeemed can rest. Peter's person, Peter's faith, or Peter's
confession are really altogether out of the question. No human being, however eminent,
can be the Rock of ages! Later on Paul asserts that the smitten rock that gave Israel water
in the wilderness was a picture of Christ, ". . . . . and that petra was Christ" (I Cor. 10: 4).