Monday: “On this Rock”
Right after Peter’s bold confession of faith in Jesus as “‘the Christ, the Son of the living God,’” Jesus says something in answer to Peter.
Read Matthew 16:17-20. What did Jesus say to Peter, and how are we to understand what He meant?
Image © Review & Herald Publishing from GoodSalt.com
The phrase “on this rock” has been controversial within the Christian church. Catholics interpret the “rock” to mean Peter himself, arguing that Peter was the first pope. Protestants, however, and with good reason, reject that interpretation.
The biblical weight of evidence is clearly in favor of the idea that the Rock is Christ Himself and not Peter.
First of all, in a few places Peter refers to Jesus, and not to himself, with rock imagery (see Acts 4:8-12, 1 Pet. 2:4-8).
Second, all through the Bible the image of God and of Christ as a rock is found; in contrast, humans are seen as weak and untrustworthy. “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 103:14, NKJV). “Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help” (Ps. 146:3, NKJV). As John wrote, too, about Jesus: “and [He] had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man” (John 2:25, NKJV). And He knew, too, what was in Peter, as well (Matt. 26:34).
In contrast, what do these texts tell us about who the Rock really is and upon whom the church is built? (1 Cor. 10:4; Matt. 7:24-25; Eph. 2:20).
“How feeble the church appeared when Christ spoke these words! There was only a handful of believers, against whom all the power of demons and evil men would be directed; yet the followers of Christ were not to fear. Built upon the Rock of their strength, they could not be overthrown.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 413.
| What has been your own experience in regard to the fallibility and weakness of human beings? How can you use these experiences to help you lean only on the Rock? |
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As from the scriptures, The true rock is Christ ( 1 Cor 10:4). Humans are weak in flesh and hence can't be depended upon. We should all depend on Christ alone in every way. Anything established on this Rock is strong enough not to be blown away by the whirl wind. So then the only rock, the true cornerstone is Jesus Christ!
The words, "on this rock...", speaks to me about the foundation/s of the church.
There is a thought in Ephesians that appears to be related. It talks about the foundation "of the household of God" (the church) as well; and explains that "you", the church of God,
"...are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone". (Eph 2:20)
According to this verse, Peter was *part* of the foundation upon which the church was built. The foundation of the church is a composite thing, made up of three parts : apostles, prophets, and Jesus Christ.
And Peter, being a true apostle, is therefore part of that foundation.
But was Peter the key component, the chief corner-stone, upon which the foundation and the entire structure depended? No. Was Peter, in any respect the chief of the apostles? No. Was he the first bishop of Rome? No. Did he set up a hierarchy, and a line of succession that reaches down to the Popes of our day? No.
But the 12 apostles (including Peter) must, in a real, enduring, sense, be understood as foundational. The "wall" of the Eternal City has 12 foundations, and I believe that Peter's name will be inscribed on one of those foundations. (Rev 21:14)
If we depend on our relationship(union) with Christ, not only at the beginning of the day, but with every step of the way, we become a stone in the building of His church, not the cornerstone, as we have read in the texts above, Christ is the cornerstone, of which we build on and teach others to build on. We are not a stone to throw at other church members, but a stone to remain solid in Christ love, not to be moved. By God's grace, we can say with David, "I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." Psalm 16:8.
The enemy is constantly seeking to robe God of his glory and honor and that is the reason why he had confused the mind of many about the true rock in which the church is founded. We just have to look at ourselves and keep in mind that we are so weak and wicked that we cannot do anything good unless we abide in Christ and the Holy Spirit place the fruits of the spirit in our heart. May the Lord help us to seek him diligently with all our hearts and we all our souls daily. Amen
Esther
Well said, Esther. We all need to remember to do this in every issue of our life.
The "rock" is not a person. The "rock" is the true statement that Peter made, which is "you are the Christ". It is upon that statement that the church was built. The Christian faith is founded on the notion and belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the one sent by God to give us salvation and redeem us to God. The true statement is the "rock" that the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
How is the Rock not a person when 1 Corinthians 10:4 clearly states that it is Christ?
The Rock is the fact that God can and does speak to each of us by His Spirit of Truth. This is what makes up the true church of God. It's the fact that God and man communicate and this keeps the truth pure and unadulterated. Let's be in this church by allowing God's Spirit to motivate our thoughts like He did at that time for Peter so that we will know the truth about everything as Jesus did and Peter did in that instance.
Indeed personally I have seen my own human frailty. I realize we cannot even trust in self. In fact we dare not! Thank God for the rock steady character He has. With our eyes constantly fixed on Him, we cannot go wrong. May our meditation be ever on Him Who is our Strength and our Redeemer (Psalm 19:14).
What is more interesting to me was what Jesus said in verse 20 "Then he commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ."
A discussion of why Jesus made this statement is of interest to me.
Mark, I have a suggestion about this.
About a week after that event, the transfiguration took place, and again Jesus told His disciples to tell no-one about what had happened, until after He had risen from the dead. (Matt 17:9)
Many Christians have almost naturally assumed that Jesus was/is an "attention seeker." But there were times when Jesus tried hard to keep a lid on hype and sensationalism.
Hype and sensationalism were not helpful, and Jesus did what He could to avoid them.
Another example of this was after the healing of a Leper. Jesus "strictly warned" the man not to say anything to anyone about who had done it.
But unfortunately the man didn't take the warning seriously. And he "went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, SO THAT JESUS COULD NO LONGER OPENLY ENTER THE CITY..." (Mk 1:43-45)
And from Desire of Ages :
"...blazing abroad the matter resulted in hindering the Savior's work. It caused the people to flock to Him in such multitudes that He was forced for a time to cease His labors." (DA 265)
Sensationalism frequently does more harm than good.
Thanks my brother for this wonderful question.
Most important is for this simple reason.Jesus Christ wanted every person or individual to get/have a personal relationship and experience with Him through ones effort to know the truth about the kingdom of God.The more you put the effort to know the will and the principles of the father in heaven, the more the truth sinks into your heart and you will not be swayed away.You will be firm in christ.
Remember salvation is a personal and not collective responsibility.
After Peter's confession, Jesus charged the disciples to tell no man that He was the Christ. This charge was given because of the determined opposition of the scribes and Pharisees. More than this, the people, and even the disciples, had so false a conception of the Messiah that a public announcement of Him would give them no true idea of His character or His work. But day by day He was revealing Himself to them as the Saviour, and thus He desired to give them a true conception of Him as the Messiah.
{Desire of Ages 414.5}
Christ is the living Foundation Stone of God's temple and we are also living stones of His temple as long as we lean on Christ. If we fall God's church will never fall because Christ never fails. Let's put our trust in Christ the solid rock. Christ is calling us to come to Him as living stones rejected by men to be used in building the spiritual temple.
If Peter was the ROCK upon which Jesus built the church, then Peter missed a great opportunity to get some credit for this in Acts chapter four where he pointed to Jesus Christ as the solid rock upon which the the church is built:
11 This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
I am reminded of times when i asked and expected financial support for my studies from relatives, which never cane through. But the solid and dependable Rock, Jesus Christ, saw ne through in his own uniqye way. I got to understand the neaning of Jer 17:5;
This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD.'
A 19th century hymn captupres the joy of depending on Jesus Christ, the true everlasting Rock, so well;
Verse 1
The Lord's our Rock, in Him we hide,
A shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide,
A shelter in the time of storm.
Refrain
Mighty Rock in a weary land,
Cooling shade on the burning sand,
Faithful guide for the pilgrim band--
A shelter in the time of storm.
Verse 2
A shade by day, defense by night,
A shelter in the time of storm;
No fears alarm, no foes afright,
A shelter in the time of storm.
Verse 3
The raging floods may round us beat,
A shelter in the time of storm
We'll never leave our safe retreat,
A shelter in the time of storm.
Verse 4
O Rock divine, O Refuge dear,
A Shelter in the time of storm;
Be Thou our helper ever near,
A Shelter in the time of storm.
Amen
Keep the Rock in sight always for He is your navigational beacon, you will never lose your way so long as you reference your bearing on Him.
A pillar by day and torch by night He will guide us to His kingdom.
"Rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee"
A little history (from the days of the Reformation) might be of interest. The famous meeting came to be known as the "Leipzic Debate". It took place in Germany, in 1519, and the debate was primarily between the two 'champions' of the two opposing camps - the Papal representative was a man named Eck, and the Reformation's spokesman was Luther.
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"July 4, at seven in the morning, was begun the debate between Eck and Luther. The debate was opened by Eck asserting the primacy of the papacy, in the words:—
“There is in the Church of God a primacy [i.e. a superiority] derived from Jesus Christ himself...
"The venerable doctor [Luther] calls upon me to prove that the primacy of the Church of Rome is of divine institution. I prove it by these words of Christ: Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.
"St. Augustine [354—430A.D.] in one of his epistles, has thus expounded the passage: ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock —that is to say, on this Peter— I will build my Church.’ It is true Augustine has elsewhere said that by this rock must be understood Christ himself; but he never retracted his former exposition.”
Luther:
“If the reverend doctor would attack me, he should first reconcile these contrary statements of Augustine. It is undeniable that St. Augustine has, again and again, said that the rock was Christ; and he may, perhaps, have once said that it was Peter himself. But even should St. Augustine and all the Fathers say that the apostle [Peter] is the rock of which Christ speaks, I would combat their view on the authority of an apostle — in other words, divine authority; for it is written: No other foundation can any man lay than that is laid, namely, Jesus Christ. Peter himself calls Christ the chief and cornerstone, on which we are built up a spiritual house.”
(Quoted in Ecclesiastical Empire, A.T.Jones, p.728-729)
Jesus was a union of humanity and divinity. We can be that same type of union if we accept the same Spirit that motivated Jesus and that motivated Peter at the time he made the statement about Jesus being the Christ and the Messiah.
All we must do is choose God's will to replace our will and His Holy Spirit will be the agency of Divinity that will unite with our human brain to motivate the very thoughts and feelings of God in us just like He did with Peter at that time.
This is the foundation of God's church--God in us and we in Him. Oneness with His creation is in God's character. It's in the 4th commandment of the law that is the transcript of His Character. It brings us His Sabbath rest and absolute truth and the righteousness of Christ. His church and kingdom is based on this principle. He wants His character seen in all of His creation. It's based on His Love.
Let's look at the structure of the passage:
Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This statement becomes the main point in Jesus' response:
a) Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed THIS to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
b) And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on THIS rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against IT.
The THIS and IT are referring to the same point and that is Peter's statement of fact. You cannot refer to a person as "it". Therefore the "rock", "this", or "it", is referring to the statement that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. It is that statement by which the church was founded.
Carlton Foster, thank u for your analysis. However, the "it" does not refer to the statement but to the church; as in the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (the church).
If you diagram the last part of Jesus' reply you can see that the AND split the sentence:
/------- I will build my church.
..? on this (solid statement) AND
\-------- this gates of hell will not prevail against it (solid statement)
In the Middle East, evil prevailed against many Christian churches, but not against the solid statement of fact, that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of this world. Same solid rock statement in Isa 9:6 and Luke 2:10-11.
"on this rock", this rock it is Jesus, he told us to build on him. Jesus is the foundation of our faith. God bless us and heps us to build on him. As ps146:3, "do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help", I believe that Jesus is a good helper than a man. Jesus is the rock? Amen!
In the statement of Jesus in Matthew 16:18, Jesus was referring not to Himself as The Rock, even though He is The Rock of our salvation. But here he was referring to Peter's expression of his own faith in Jesus as being The Messiah. It is upon this faith of all Jesus' followers that Jesus would build His Church etc.
Peter in Greek is Petros which means a small stone that can be moved. Jesus spoke of Petra, the immovable foundation. Unless we say Jesus built His church on a small movable stone, it makes no sense to also claim that the church has firm foundations.
A church built on small movable stones can never be able to withstand the gates of hell. Paul in 1 Cor. 3: 11 states, "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." David said, "The Lord is my rock." and "Who is a rock, except our God?" Ps 18:31. There are other references in the Bible that clearly state that the rock spoken of in Matt. 16 is none other than Jesus Christ. Saints above have already made reference to these. I refer you to Deut. 32: 18; Ps 94:22 etc. In fact there are more than 30 instances in the New Testament where Christ is refered to as a rock. Therefore, it is quite ingeniuos of the Catholic Church to claim that this passage of Scripture establishes Peter as the rock that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 16. Moreover, no more is the point made clearer than in the very same chapter, Matthew 16: 23, where Jesus said to Peter, "Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art an offence unto Me." Finally, it was Jesus who said, "I will build My church."
Of all the comments and perspectives I really appreciate Stewart’s.
Yes the Church is built on the foundations of apostles and prophets with Jesus the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:20). Yes Peter is part of the foundation of the Church. We received the gospel of Jesus through the 12 apostles and Peter is one of them.
Was Peter the chief? That is not in scripture however both he and James seem to be principle leaders at the Jerusalem council in Act 15. Yes, he had a leadership role, but the idea of a pope seems to have come much latter in history. Did Peter ordain bishops, pastors and deacons? I am certain he did however that line of succession is not limited to the Roman Catholic Church as the Anglican, Methodist and other churches also are believed to go back to Peter too, and in a real sense all Christians go back to the apostles, as they passed on the teachings and Gospel of Jesus to us all. So I have no problem with Peter being part of the foundation upon which the Church is built, but he is just a part not the whole foundation, nor the chief cornerstone.
Thank you Robert. Often the best way to refute an error is to seek solid "common ground". Even the representatives of the Papal Beast need to be "treated with respect and deference." This is a 'hard saying' for some of us, but
"... The Lord wants His people to follow other methods than that of condemning wrong, even though the condemnation is just. He wants us to do something more than to hurl at our adversaries charges that only drive them further from the truth." (Evangelism p.305)