Matthew 16:18 "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church..."

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

Question:

What did Jesus mean by saying Peter will be the rock on which to build his church? I have read that Church = Ekklesia, which means an assembly of people or a people “called out.” Many thanks for your answers to many questions I have asked. I value your comments.

Comment:

At this point in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus and his closest disciples are taking a brief break, staying in the city of Caesarea Philippi after the early success of his teachings and demonstrations. In answer to his question [about his identity], the disciples report to Jesus that the people are saying he is either the reincarnation of John the Baptist or that of one of the great Hebrew prophets. “But who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks, and Simon replies, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” It is at this point that Jesus sees in this particular disciple the metaphysical quality that will define him from that point forward—the quality of faith. It is only through faith that he could know Jesus as the Christ. “Flesh and blood”—that is, the input from intelligence and sense that constitutes most of what we think we know—could not reach that awareness. And so Jesus re-names Simon, evoking a play on words as he does so. In Aramaic the word kepha can mean both “stone” and the name “Peter.” So Jesus is saying that faith is the stone upon which his community will be built—not intellect, not tradition—and as Simon has expressed that quality, he is renamed Stone to emblematize the faith he truly represents. It is true for us today as well, of course: We cannot come to a full understanding and acceptance of our own Christ Nature—or of the Christ Presence in others—simply through logic and sensation. We intuitively “know” it from within; and we must then have faith in that intuitive knowing. We then become part of an assemblage of people who are, indeed “called out” to claim, share and express our innate Christ energy and thereby create a new consciousness, which Jesus describes as “the kingdom of heaven.”   Blessings!

Rev. Ed