What do you think Jesus meant when he said...?

Question

Matthew 16:18
18And I tell you that you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it.[c]

(you can read more of the verse above and below it, to understand it's context, but I am asking for what you think this exact verse means)

Answer 1

Unfortunately this scripture has led to the false conclusion of Apostolic succession. within the catholic church.

Definition: The doctrine that the 12 apostles have successors to whom authority has been passed by divine appointment. In the Roman Catholic Church, the bishops as a group are said to be successors of the apostles, and the pope is claimed to be the successor of Peter. It is maintained that the Roman pontiffs come immediately after, occupy the position and perform the functions of Peter, to whom Christ is said to have given primacy of authority over the whole Church. Not a Bible teaching.

Was Peter the “rock” on which the church was built?

Matt. 16:18, JB: “I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.” (Notice in the context [vss. 13, 20] that the discussion centers on the identity of Jesus.)

Whom did the apostles Peter and Paul understand to be the “rock,” the “cornerstone”?

Acts 4:8-11, JB: “Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, addressed them, ‘Rulers of the people, and elders! . . . it was by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the one you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name and by no other that this man is able to stand up perfectly healthy, here in your presence, today. This is the stone rejected by you the builders, but which has proved to be the keystone [“cornerstone,” NAB].’”

Eph. 2:20, JB: “You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone.”

Did the other apostles view Peter as having primacy among them?

Luke 22:24-26, JB: “A dispute arose also between them [the apostles] about which should be reckoned the greatest, but he said to them, ‘Among pagans it is the kings who lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are given the title Benefactor. This must not happen with you.’” (If Peter were the “rock,” would there have been any question as to which one of them “should be reckoned the greatest”?)

Since Jesus Christ, the head of the congregation, is alive, does he need successors?

Heb. 7:23-25, JB: “Then there used to be a great number of those other priests [in Israel], because death put an end to each one of them; but this one [Jesus Christ], because he remains for ever, can never lose his priesthood. It follows, then, that his power to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him.”

the church of Christ is not a literal building of stone, for, as Paul told the Athenians, God “does not dwell in handmade temples”. (Acts 17:24,

From the context of the scripture under consideration, Matthew 16:18, we learn that Peter had just given testimony that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, and Jesus told him that God had revealed this to Peter. Continuing, he then said: “And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church.” (Dy) Consulting the original Greek words (by means of Strong’s Concordance of the Bible) we find that Jesus was here using two related words but which have distinctly different meanings. “Peter” (Greek, Petros—a proper noun, in the masculine gender) means “a (piece of) rock”. But when speaking of the “rock” on which he would build his church or congregation, Jesus used a different Greek word, petra (a common noun, in the feminine gender), which means “a (mass of) rock”. So the New World Translation properly renders this text: “Also I say to you, You are Peter, and on this rock-mass I will build my congregation.” For other instances of the use of the same word see Matthew 7:24, 25; 27:51; Mark 15:46; 1 Corinthians 10:4, New World Translation. Clearly Jesus was here saying that He himself, the one identified by Peter as the Messiah, the Son of God, was the rock-mass or foundation on which he would build his church or congregation.

Answer 2

Jesus changed his name from Simon to Peter (John 1:42). Peter means rock. Jesus is the chief cornerstone (1 Peter 2:6) and the start of a solid foundation that cannot be shaken.

Peter would be the stone next to it as part of the foundation (Ephesians 2:20-22). Notice Peter's speech in Acts 2:14 pretty much started the church's rapid growth. Acts 2:41 shows about 3000 people were baptized in one day and the numbers were added to that each day Acts 2:47.

So this is the church. It's not a physical building, but made up of people. It is unshakable and it is solid.

A gate is to keep things out and keep things in. The gates of hell cannot stop the church. The church is a temple of the Holy Spirit and it has mighty power and it will overcome Hell. People are being rescued from hell and nothing can stop this.

Answer 3

Jesus is the rock in which His Church shall be built. It never was meant to state that the Church was to be built on Peter which the Catholic Church believes and is in error..The true Church of Jesus Christ is made up as a living organism given eternal life by the Holy Spirit of God, and any Church who claims the deity of the Lord Jesus must also have His Spirit abiding within them, given this this life and power of the spirit or they shall one day have a very warm awakening.

Answer 4

The debate rages over whether “the rock” on which Christ will build His church is Peter, or Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16). In all honesty, there is no way for us to be 100% sure which view is correct. The grammatical construction allows for either view. The first view is that Jesus was declaring that Peter would be the “rock” on which He would build His church. Jesus appears to be using a play on words. “You are Peter (petros) and on this rock (petra) I will build my church.” Since Peter’s name means rock, and Jesus is going to build His church on a rock – it appears that Christ is linking the two together. God used Peter greatly in the foundation of the church. It was Peter who first proclaimed the Gospel on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-47). Peter was also the first to take the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-48). In a sense, Peter was the rock “foundation” of the church.

The other popular interpretation of the rock is that Jesus was referring not to Peter, but to Peter’s confession of faith in verse 16: “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” Jesus had never explicitly taught Peter and the other disciples the fullness of His identity, and He recognized that God had sovereignly opened Peter’s eyes and revealed to him who Jesus really was. His confession of Christ as Messiah poured forth from him, a heart-felt declaration of Peter’s personal faith in Jesus. It is this personal faith in Christ which is the hallmark of the true Christian. Those who have placed their faith in Christ, as Peter did, are the church. Peter expresses this in 1 Peter 2:4 when he addressed the believers who had been dispersed around the ancient world: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Answer 5

Scripture reveals this Church to be the one Jesus Christ built upon the rock of Saint Peter (Matt. 16:18). By giving Peter the keys of authority (Matt. 16:19), Jesus appointed Peter as the chief steward over His earthly kingdom (cf. Isaiah. 22:19-22). Jesus also charged Peter to be the source of strength for the rest of the apostles (Luke 22:32) and the earthly shepherd of Jesus' flock (John 21:15-17). Jesus further gave Peter, and the apostles and elders in union with him, the power to bind and loose in heaven what they bound and loosed on earth. (Matt. 16:19; 18:18). This teaching authority did not die with Peter and the apostles, but was transferred to future bishops through the laying on of hands (e.g., Acts 1:20; 6:6; 13:3; 8:18; 9:17; 1 Tim. 4:14; 5:22; 2 Tim. 1:6).

Answer 6

Peter's name was Petra which means rock. According to the verse, Jesus was telling Peter that he was building the church on his shoulders and even evil would not stop it. Not sure that he would have said that because he relied on all the disciples and not just one. He actually relied on Mary of Magdala as a spiritual leader of the church since "according to the bible" Peter was big and strong but not the swiftest person in the area.

Answer 7

Jesus is the rock. One way of knowing this is by something he said, He said I am the rock , I am under the rock and I am everywhere. Thats not in your bible its Gnostic. Jesus is supposed to be our foundation, our ground and our beginning, our center. No dark or evil in creation can overcome the rock of our church. Not death and not Hades or any of the evil ones.

ana

Answer 8

Peter had just made his confession of faith in Jesus. Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God."
Jesus then said, "You are like a rock (little rock), and on this Rock (huge stone) I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

Jesus was referring to Peter's faith. He was saying that His church is built on faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. All of us are added to the church when we make this same confession of faith and without it we are not added. Once we are added, having made this same confession of faith in Jesus Christ, Hades no longer prevails over us - Death has been conquered once and for all. Faith like this is powerful.

Answer 9

18And I tell you that you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it.[c]

a) Jesus will build His church upon Himself, He is the chief cornerstone.
b) Satan and his hoards
c) will not overcome, nor destroy Christ's church.

Answer 10

Jesus was refering to building the foundation on Himself. This was in response to the answer Peter give Jesus, whe he called Jesus, " Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God."

This is the foundation that will stand forever!!!!!!