St. Peter the Apostle
THE PAPACY OF PETER….. PETER THE ROCK .. PART II
………… PETER THE ROCK………………..
PETERS PREEMINENT POSITION AMONG THE APOSTLES WAS SYMBOLIZED AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF
THIS RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST.. AT THEIR FIRST MEETING , CHRIST TOLD SIMON THAT HIS NAME WOULD THERE AFTER BE PETER WHICH TRANSLATES AS “ROCK” JOHN 1:42
THE STARTLING (ANG NAKAKAGULAT)THING WAS THAT…ASIDE FROM THE SINGLE TIME THAT ABRAHAM WAS CALLED A “ROCK” (HEBREW : TSUR , ARAMAIC : KEPHA)
from the ancient Aramaic word “kephalaion” meaning a FOUNDATION OR FUNDAMENTAL…IN ISAIAH 51:1-2 IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ONLY GOD WAS CALLED THE ROCK….
“FOR GOD IS MY ROCK” Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
THE WORD ROCK WAS NOT USED AS A PROPER NAME IN THE ANCIENT WORLD..IF YOU WERE TO TURN TO
A COMPANION AND SAY , “FROM NOW ON YOUR NAME IS ASPARAGUS” PEOPLE WOULD WONDER…WHY ASPARAGUS? WHAT DOES IT SIGNIFY? INDEED , WHY DID JESUS CALL SIMON THE FISHERMAN “ROCK” ?
CHRIST WAS NOT GIVEN TO MEANINGLESS GESTURES…AND NEITHER WERE THE JEWS AS A WHOLE WHEN IT COMES TO NAMES…GIVING A NEW NAME MEANT THAT THE STATUS OF THE PERSON WAS CHANGED..ABRAMS NAME WAS CHANGED TO ABRAHAM GEN 17:5 , JACOB TO ISRAEL GEN 32:28
ELIAKIM TO JOAKIM 2 KINGS 23:34 OR THE NAMES OF THE FOUR HEBREW YOUTHS..DANIEL , HANANIAH, MISHAEL, AND AZARIAH TO
BELTHESHAZZAR, SHARACH, MESHACH , AND ABEDNEGO..DANIEL 1:6-7
BUT NO JEW HAD EVER BEEN CALLED “ROCK”. THE JEWS WOULD GIVE OTHER NAMES TAKEN FROM NATURE. SUCH AS DEBORAH (“BEE”) AND RACHEL (“EWE”), BUT NEVER ROCK. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT JAMES AND JOHN WERE NICKNAMED “BOANERGES MEANING “SONS OF THUNDER”
BY OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST… BUT THAT WAS NOT REGULARLY USED IN PLACE OF THEIR ORIGINAL NAMES AND CERTAINLY WAS NOT GIVEN AS A NEW NAME… BUT IN THE CASE OF “SIMON-BAR-JONA”,
HIS NEW NAME ..KEPHA IN ARAMAIC ..- GREEK:PETROS DEFINITELY REPLACED THE OLD NAME OF SIMON…
………….. LOOK AT THE SCENE. CAESAREA PHILIPPI ………….
NOT ONLY WAS THERE SIGNIFICANCE IN SIMON BEING GIVEN A NEW AND UNUSUAL NAME, BUT THE PLACE WHERE JESUS SOLEMLY CONFERRED IN UPON PETER WAS ALSO IMPORTANT. IT HAPPENED “WHEN JESUS CAME INTO THE DISTRICT OF CAESAREA PHILIPPI MATHEW 16:13 A CITY THAT PHILIP THE TETRARCH BUILT AND NAMED IN HONOR OF CAESAR AUGUSTUS,
WHO HAD DIED IN 14 AD 14
YEARS AFTER JESUS WAS BORN … THE CITY LAY NEAR CASCADES IN THE JORDAN RIVER AND NEAR A GIGANTIC WALL OF ROCK.. A WALL ABOUT 200 FEET HIGH AND 500 FEET LONG..WHICH IS PART OF THE FOOTHILLS OF MOUNT HERMON.
THE CITY NO LONGER EXISTS, BUT ITS RUINS ARE NEAR THE SMALL ARAB TOWN OF BANIAS AND AT THE BASE OF THE ROCK WALL MAY BE FOUND WHAT IS LEFT OF ONE OF THE SPRINGS THAT FED THE
JORDAN RIVER…IT WAS HERE THAT JESUS POINTED TO SIMON AND SAID, “YOU ARE ROCK..YOU ARE KEPHA (IN ARAMAIC ), YOU ARE PETRUS (GREEK) MATTHEW 16:18
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EVENT MUST HAVE BEEN CLEAR TO THE OTHER APOSTLES.. AS DEVOUT JEWS
.. THEY KNEW AT ONCE THAT THE LOCATION .. WAS MEANT TO EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF WHAT WAS BEING DONE..NONE OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES COMPLAINED OF SIMON BEING SINGLED OUT FOR THIS HONOR… FOR THE APOSTLES KNEW THE SCRIPTURES AND HOW THE DAVIDIC KINGDOM WAS RAN
BY THE KINGS..AND JESUS WAS QUOTING .. A VERSE FROM THE SCRIPTURES ISAIAH 22:20-25 .. AND IN THE REST OF THE NEW TESTAMENT HE IS CALLED BY THIS NEW NAME WHILE JAMES AND JOHN JUST REMAIN AS JAMES AND JOHN , NOT “BOANERGES” MEANING SONS OF THUNDER…
next …OUR LORDS PROMISES TO PETER ……..