Matthew 16:18

Why is this passage so important?

Because the Roman Catholic church bases its claim of universal jurisdiction over the entire Christian church on this text.  Schaff writes (p301):

This passage was at all times taken as an immovable exegetical rock for the papacy. The popes themselves appealed to it, times without number, as the great proof of the divine institution of a visible and infallible central authority in the church.

 

What does Jesus say in this passage?

In this passage, Jesus is putting the ultimate question to His followers.  It’s the question of the ages; who is Jesus?  The account is also in Mark and Luke.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ. (Matthew 16:13-20)

Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.” And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” And He warned them to tell no one about Him. (Mark 8:27–30)

And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?” They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.” And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.” But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to no one, (Luke 9:18–21)

 

When did this event take place in the ministry of Jesus?

It happens after the Jewish leadership had challenged Him to perform a sign which would prove that He really was the Messiah. (Matthew 16:1)  Edersheim calls (p75) this “the last and decisive question of the Pharisees.”  Jesus rejects this challenge and leaves the Jews deeply disappointed that He was not the political messiah for whom they were looking.  It’s probably around this time, that the events happen in John 6:66.  At this point, Jesus withdraws to the far north, the region of Caesarea Philippi (25–30 miles north of the Sea of Galilee), and puts the all important question to the His followers, “But who do you say that I am?”  Stanley writes (p113):

The enthusiasm, which up to that moment had drawn such multitudes after Him, now began to turn steadily against Him until, with the exception of the temporary reaction on the resurrection of Lazarus, it closed in the Betrayal and Crucifixion.

 

What is significant about Peter’s answer?

To Jesus’ question, Peter gives a twofold answer:

1. “You are the Christ” showing Jesus’ identity as the great expected Messiah.
2. “Son of the living God” showing that Jesus really is on a mission from the Father as He claimed.

All those, who give the answer of Peter here, are Christians and citizens of Christ’s kingdom.  To this answer, Jesus pronounces Peter as the rock of His church and promises to give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

 

Is there any significance to the fact that Matthew records Jesus’ promise to Peter but the others do not?

Stanley notes (p115) that Matthew’s gospel was intended for a Jewish audience.  Since Peter was the leader of the Jewish-Christians (Galatians 2:7), they especially would have been interested to know the details of Peter’s relationship to Jesus.

 

Where does this event take place?

Edersheim describes (p74) the massive rock formations in this region which may have provided Jesus with the visual He needed when describing Peter as the rock.

 

What does Jesus mean here by church?

The word church is the Greek word ekklesia or ἐκκλησία.  This is the word used to translate the Hebrew קָהָל which is the word used in the Old Testament for the whole community of God’s people. (Deuteronomy 18:16; Judges 21:8)  Here, the idea is that Christ will build a new community to replace the old.  There will be a new people of God to replace the old people of God.  Hort even paraphrases (p11) the text as “…on this rock, I will build My Israel.”  This new Israel have been called into the kingdom of God, and the church is the visible manifestation of this invisible kingdom. (Luke 17:20-21)

 

It appears that Jesus gives Simon a new name, but hadn’t Jesus given Simon the name Peter before?

Yes, John tells us when this happened:

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.  He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).  He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). (John 1:40-42 cf. Mark 3:16)

In Matthew 16, Jesus is not giving Peter his name but simply calling attention to it and drawing conclusions from it.

 

What truth is Jesus communicating to us by using the metaphor of rock?

The word rock here implies the foundation of a house.  It implies solidity, strength, and something immovable.

 

What is meant by the keys of the kingdom and binding and loosing?

The keys of the kingdom is a metaphor for the authority (p480) which Jesus would give Peter to open the door of the kingdom and to admit people into it.  “Binding and loosing” means forbidding or permitting; see p215.

 

Taken altogether then, what is the meaning of Jesus’ words here?

In these verses, Jesus announces the beginning of a new people of God.  This new community will be built on the teaching and authority of Peter.  To him, Jesus transfers His own authority to open and no one can shut; to close and no one can open. (Revelation 3:7)  All the power of the serpent (Genesis 3:15) will be directed against this new community, but it will not succeed.

 

How do the Roman Catholics use this verse to support their claims?

They see Jesus here as giving a primacy of jurisdiction to Peter over the entire community of Christians and that this primacy is handed down from Peter to each of his successors.

 

What do you mean here by a primacy of jurisdiction?

A distinction is often made between a primacy of jurisdiction and a primacy of honor.  The first means that this person has authority over another person and can command or forbid him from acting in a certain way.  A person who has a primacy of honor does not have any authority over others; he is simply the first among equals as the expression is.  This person holds a position of respect and honor above the others but not authority.

• For example, a pastor in a Presbyterian church does not have any authority over the other elders, but he likely does have a primacy of honor which means that he is respected highly and the elders will often defer to his opinion.  In the end, however, decisions are made by each elder having one vote.
• The CEO of a company has a primacy of jurisdiction, i.e. he can tell other people what to do.  There doesn’t need to be a vote; he can hand down a decision and expect everyone to obey it.

 

How would Roman Catholics show from this text that Jesus gave Peter a primacy of jurisdiction and not simply a primacy of honor?

Wiseman sees three prerogatives here given to Peter:

1. he is the rock of the church;
2. he holds the keys;
3. he is given the mandate to feed Christ’s flock (not here but in John 21:15-17).

 

How does Wiseman understand Peter being the rock?

He writes (p267):

For what is the first idea which this figure [a rock] suggests except that the whole edifice grows up in unity and receives solidity from its been mortised and rivetted into this common base. But what can be simply effected in a material edifice by the weight or tenacity of its component parts can only be permanently secured in a moral body by a compressive influence or by the exercise of authority and power. We style the laws the basis of social order because it is their office to secure by their administration the just rights of all to punish transgressors to arbitrate differences to ensure uniformity of conduct in all their subjects. We call our triple legislative authority the foundation of the British constitution because from it emanate all the powers which regulate the subordinate parts of the body politic and on it repose the government the modification the reformation of the whole.

He concludes: “On the strength of these passages [Matthew 16:18; John 21:15-17], principally, the Catholic Church has ever maintained that St Peter received a spiritual pre-eminence and supremacy.”  Joyce agrees (p262): “The position of St. Peter after the Ascension, as shown in the Acts of the Apostles, realizes to the full the great commission bestowed upon him. He is from the first the chief of the Apostolic band — not primus inter pares [first among equals], but the undisputed head of the Church.”

 

How have Christians typically understood Jesus’ words that Peter will be the rock of the church?

There are three ways of understanding this:

1. The rock is Peter’s person, almost all modern commentators, see Clarke p192;
2. The rock is Peter’s confession, most of the church fathers, see Schaff §61, Barrow p78;
3. The rock is Christ, see Augustine p90, Beveridge p395, Plumptre p231 and Wordsworth p58.

Roman Catholics insist on the first of these although the first two in this list are not mutually exclusive.

 

Is it true then, that Roman Catholics and protestants agree in understanding Peter to be the rock of the church that Christ is building?

Yes.

 

Does not Jesus giving the keys of the kingdom to Peter imply that he was given a  primacy of jurisdiction?

It does since having the keys of the kingdom would mean having authority in the church. Edersheim writes (p85) that having the power of binding and loosing would include all the legislative functions in the church.

In the view of the Rabbis heaven was like earth, and questions were discussed and settled by a heavenly Sanhedrin. Now, in regard to some of their earthly decrees, they were wont to say that ‘the Sanhedrin above’ confirmed what ‘the Sanhedrin beneath’ had done. But the words of Christ, as they avoided the foolish conceit of His contemporaries, left it not doubtful, but conveyed the assurance that, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, whatsoever they bound or loosed on earth would be bound or loosed in heaven.

 

Why then do Protestants not agree with Roman Catholics that Peter has a primacy of jurisdiction?

Protestants agree that Peter had such a primacy over the church.  Most protestants reject the claim that Peter was given authority over the other apostles.  They state two reasons:

1. the power of the keys is given to all the apostles on two other occasions;
2. the early church did not act in such a way which would lead us to believe that they understood Peter to have a primacy of jurisdiction.

 

Where does Jesus give the power of the keys to all the apostles?

There are two such passages:

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” (Matthew 18:15-20)

Right before His ascension, Jesus says this to His disciples:

So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” (John 20:19-23)

This does not preclude Peter from having a primacy of honor in the apostolic circle.  See Origen (p456) on this.

 

You said previously that the apostles did not appear to recognize any such authority in Peter. Explain this.

The following are incidents in the gospel history which indicate that the other apostles did not understand Peter to be in a position of authority over them. Consider:

1. When the vacancy left by Judas’ death has to be filled, it is Peter who stands up and leads the church to resolve this problem. Peter does not, however, hand down a decision which he has made. On the contrary, the text says, “So they put forward two men…” which indicates that there was some kind of nomination process. Then lots are cast and Matthias is chosen.
2. Paul’s correction of Peter in Galatians 2:11f.
3. Peter certainly spoke at the council of Jerusalem, but it was James who said, “Therefore it is my judgment that…” (Acts 15:19)

 

Sum up the Protestant understanding of Matthew 16:18.

Protestants argue that Roman Catholics have drawn conclusions from this text which the text itself does not warrant.  They generally agree that Jesus gave Peter a leading role in the founding of the church.  Summers writes (p190):

Peter was the first among the equals of the apostolic college. In recognition of his forwardness in confessing Christ, he was chosen to open the kingdom of heaven to the Jews, on the day of Pentecost, and to the Gentiles, in the case of Cornelius and his friends. Acts 2, 10, 15:7. In the foundation-work of the ministry, the other apostles were, indeed, associated with him; (Gal. 2:9; Eph. 2:20; Rev. 21:14;) as all the Levites are called stones of the temple—but Peter began the work. This interpretation embraces the doctrinal substance of that which refers the rock to Christ, and that without any forcing, as Peter’s fundamental ministry consisted in preaching the Christ contained in his confession. Thus the Church is built on Peter, only as Peter builds on Christ, (1 Cor. 3:10,) or is built on him, (1 Peter 2:4–8.) The word Church occurs here for the first time: it occurs nowhere else in the Gospels, except in Matt. 18:17.

Meyer (p419):

Besides, there can be no doubt whatever that the primacy among the apostles is here assigned to Peter, inasmuch as Christ singles him out as that one in particular whose apostolic labors will, in virtue of the steadfast faith for which he is peculiarly distinguished, be the means of securing, so far as human effort can do so (comp. Rev. 21:4; Gal. 2:9), the permanence and stability of the church which Jesus is about to found, and to extend more and more in the world. As in accordance with this, we may also mention the precedence given to this disciple in the catalogues of the apostles, and likewise the fact that the New Testament uniformly represents him as being, in point of fact, superior to all the others (Acts 15:7, 2:14; Gal. 1:18, 2:7, 8).

Keener:

Whether Peter thus acts as “prime minister” for the kingdom or perhaps as a “chief rabbi” making halakic rulings based on Jesus’ teachings, he clearly acts on sufficient delegated authority. Whereas Israel’s religious elite was shutting people out of the kingdom, those who confessed Jesus’ identity along with Peter were authorized to usher people into God’s kingdom. Peter may thus function as the representative eschatological missionary, a “fisher of men” par excellence. Non-Matthean tradition retains this special role for Peter; thus, for example, Acts indicates that he opened an official door to the Gentiles.  Matthew, p429–430.

Briggs wrote (p348) in 1907 that all attempts to explain the “rock” in any other way than referring to Peter have failed:

St Peter was thus made, by the appointment of Jesus, the rock on which the Church was built as a spiritual house or temple; and at the same time, the porter of the kingdom whose privilege it is to open and shut its gates. The Church is here conceived as a building a house constituted of living stones all built upon Peter, the first of these stones or the primary rock foundation. It is also conceived as a city of God into which men enter by the gates.

 

How was this promise of Jesus fulfilled in the later history of the church?

The only history we are given of Peter’s ministry is in the early days of the church’s history.  After the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), we have Peter’s two letters and not much else.

 

Say more about Peter’s ministry in the church.

After the ascension of Jesus, we must assume that the disciples were in a state of great anxiety and distress.  Yet, here we see Peter in his role as the rock of the church.

1. He calls the church together, stands up, and directs the process of choosing a replacement for Judas. (Acts 1:15-26)
2. In Acts 2, the gates of hell make an assault against the new community.  Peter stands up, with the other apostles, and defends them. (Acts 2:14)  When the crowd is duly convicted of their sin, they appeal in their distress to Peter and the other apostles. (Acts 2:37)  Peter takes the keys and opens the door of the kingdom of heaven: “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
3. In the next chapter, we read of a lame man who the devils of hell had in their grasp.  Peter breaks their power and claims the man for Christ by commanding the man to get up and walk. (Acts 3:6-7, 16)
4. When all the people heard of this healing and came rushing to see what had happened, Peter again took the keys and opened the door of the kingdom to them. (Acts 3:19-20)
5. When the gates of hell made another assault on the community, Peter was right there again.  He challenges the Jewish leadership to confront the obvious fact that this man had been healed by the powerful Name of Jesus. (Acts 4:10)  Then he takes the keys and declares: “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other Name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)  When the Jewish leadership commanded Peter and John to stop preaching the gospel, both of them resisted this attack of the gates of hell by declaring that they would obey God rather than men. (Acts 4:19; 5:29)
6. Another assault from hell is repelled by Peter when he exposes the lie of Ananias and Sapphira. (Acts 5:3)  When the sick people were brought into the streets, it was Peter’s shadow which healed them.  When the apostles were arrested, it is Peter who stands like a rock against all opposition. (Acts 5:29-32)  The apostles would have been struck dead if it weren’t for the testimony of Gamaliel. (Acts 5:34)
7. Simon the Sorcerer represented another attack of hell.  Peter exercised the authority to bind and loose by denying Simon the power of giving the Holy Spirit.  “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!  You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.  Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.  For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” (Acts 8:20-23)
8. In Acts 9, Peter heals Aeneas and Tabitha.
9. The greatest act of Peter’s ministry came when he received God’s mandate to take the keys of the kingdom and to swing the door open for the gentiles.  “What God has cleansed,” God told Peter, “No longer consider unholy.” (Acts 10:15)  Then, Peter saw with his own eyes, in the house of Cornelius, that the Holy Spirit had come upon the gentiles.  In amazement, he orders them to be baptized as full participants of all the saving mercies of God! (Acts 10:44-48)
10. When he returns to Jerusalem, the anxious Jewish believers demand a full account of his actions.  Peter stands firm like a rock and reasons with them:  If God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11:17)  When the Jerusalem believers hear this, they are convinced.  “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:18)
11. That Peter was the rock of the church is clear in Acts 12 where he is arrested, but God works a miracle and Peter walks out of the prison a free man. (Acts 12:11)
12. Finally, Peter stands and addresses the Jerusalem council.  After the others had spoken, he, like a rock, denounces the idea that the gentile believers would be required to follow all the laws of Moses when they became a Christian. (Acts 15:7)  When James speaks, he references the ministry of Peter as a reason why they should adopt Peter’s position. (Acts 15:14)