Statue of St. Peter the Apostle
THE PAPACY OF PETER….. PETER THE ROCK .. PART III
………..THE PROMISES OF JESUS TO PETER ………
WHEN HE FIRST SAW SIMON, “JESUS LOOKED AT HIM AND SAID , “SO YOU ARE SIMON THE SON OF JOHN”? YOU SHALL BE CALLED CEPHAS” (WHICH MEANS PETER) JOHN 1:42 THE WORD CEPHAS IS MERELY THE TRANSLITERATION OF THE ARAMAIC KEPHA INTO GREEK. LATER, AFTER PETER AND THE OTHER DISCIPLES HAD BEEN WITH JESUS CHRIST FOR SOMETIME, THEY WENT TO CAESAREA PHILIPPI, WHERE PETER MADE HIS PROFESSION OF FAITH: “YOU ARE THE CHRIST THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD” MATTHEW 16:16 , JESUS TOLSD HIM THAT THIS TRUTH WAS SPECIALLY REVEALED TO HIM. AND THEN HE SOLEMNLY REITERATED : “AND I TELL YOU, YOU ARE PETER” mATT 16:18. TO THIS WAS ADDED THE PROMISE THAT THE CHURCH WOULD BE FOUNDED, IN SOME OTHER WAY , ON PETER CF MATTHEW 16:18
THEN TWO IMPORTANT THINGS WERE TOLD TO THE APOSTLE, “WHATEVER YOU BIND ON EARTH SHALL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN AND WHATEVER YOU LOOSE ON EARTH SHALL BE LOOSED IN HEAVEN ” MATTHEW 16:19
HERE PETR WAS SINGLED OUT FOR THE AUTHORITY THAT PROVIDES FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND THE MAKING OF DISCIPLINARY RULES…LATER THE APOSTLES AS A WHOLE WOULD BE GIVEN SIMILAR POWER CF MATTHEW 18:18 BUT HERE PETER RECEIVED IT IN A SPECIAL SENSE…
PETER ALONE WAS PROMISED SOMETHING ELSE ALSO , “I WILL GIVE YOU THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ” MATTHEW 16:19 . IN ANCIENT TIMES KEYS WERE THE HALLMARK OF AUTHORITY …
A WALLED CITY MIGHT HAVE ONE GREAT GATE AND THAT GATE HAD ONE GREAT LOCK WORKED BY ONE GREAT KEY. TO BE GIVEN THE KEY TO THE CITY —–AND HONOR THAT EVEN EXIST TODAY, THOUGH ITS IMPORT IS LOST.. MEANT TO BE GIVEN FREE ACCESS TO AND AUTHORITY OVER THE CITY. THE CITY TO WHICH PETER WAS GIVEN THE KEY WAS THE HEAVENLY CITY ITSELF.. THIS IS SYMBOLISM FOR AUTHORITY IS USED ELSEWHERE IN THE BIBLE cf IS 22:22 REV 1:18
FINALLY AFTER THE RESURRECTION, JESUS APPEARED TO BE HIS DISCIPLES AND ASKED PETER THREE TIMES. “DO YOU LOVE ME?” CF JOHN 21:15-17. IN REPENTANCE FOR HIS THREE FOLD DENIAL…PETER GAVE A THREEFOLD AFFIRMATION OF LOVE..THEN CHRIST, THE GOOD SHEPHERD JOHN 10:11, 14 , GAVE PETER THE AUTHORITY HE EARLIER HAD PROMISED : FEED MY SHEEP JOHN 21:17 . THIS SPECIFICALLY INCLUDED THE OTHER APOSTLES. SINCE JESUS ASKED PETER, “DO YOU LOVE ME MORE THAN THESE?” JOHN 21:15, THE WORD THESE REFERRING TO THE OTHER APOSTLES WHO WERE PRESENT CF JOHN 21:12. THUS WAS COMPLETED THE PREDICTION MADE JUST BEFORE JESUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS WENT FOR THE LAST TIME TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.
IMMEDIATELY BEFORE HIS DENIALS WERE PREDICTED PETER WAS TOLD, “SIMON, SIMON, BEHOLD, SATAN DEMANDED TO HAVE YOU, THAT HE MIGHT SIFT YOU LIKE WHEAT, BUT I HAVE PRAYED FOR YOU THAT YOUR FAITH MAY NOT FAIL,AND WHEN YOU HAVE TURNED AGAIN (AFTER THE DENIALS) , STRENGTHEN YOUR BRETHREN LUKE 22:31-32.
IT WAS PETER WHOM CHRIST PRAYED WOULD HAVE FAITH THAT WOULD NOT FAIL AND THAT WOULD BE GUIDE FOR OTHERS. HIS PRAYER BEING PERFECTLY EFFICACIOUS WAS SURE TO BE FULFILLED…
…………..WHO IS THE ROCK?………..
NOW TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE KEY VERSE: “YOU ARE PETROS/KEPHA/ROCK AND ON THIS PETROS/KEPHA/ROCK …I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH” MATT 16:18
DISPUTES ABOUT THIS PASSAGE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN RELATED TO THE MEANING OF THE TERM ROCK. TO WHOM OR TO WHAT DOES IT REFER? SINCE SIMON’S NEW NAME OF PETER MEANS “ROCK”, THE SENTENCE COULD BE REWRITTEN AS:
“YOU ARE ROCK AND ON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.” THE PLAY ON WORDS SEEMS OBVIOUS, BUT COMMENTATORS WHO WISH TO AVOID WHAT FOLLOWS FROM THIS—-
NAMELY THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PAPACY…..HAVE SUGGESTED THAT THE WORD ROCK COULD NOT REFER TO PETER BUT MUST REFER TO HIS PROFESSION OF FAITH OR TO CHRIST.
FROM THE GRAMMATICAL POINT OF VIEW , THE PHRASE “THIS ROCK” MUST RELATE BACK TO THE CLOSEST NOUN. PETER’S PROFESSION OF FAITH (“YOU ARE THE CHRIST SON OF THE LIVING GOD”) IS TWO VERSES EARLIER WHILE HIS NAME A PROPER NOUN IS IN THE IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING CLAUSE.
AS AN ANALOGY, CONSIDER THIS ARTIFICIAL SENTENCE: “I HAVE A CAR AND A TRUCK AND IT IS BLUE” WHICH IS BLUE? THE TRUCK ?, BECAUSE THAT IS THE NOUN CLOSEST TO THE PRONOUN IT. THIS IS ALL THE MORE CLEAR IF THE REFERENCE TO THE CAR IS TWO SENTENCES EARLIER AS THE REFERENCE TO PETERS PROFESSION IS TWO SENTENCES THAN THE TERM ROCK…
NEXT…….ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE… LOOK AT THE ARAMAIC…