Matthew 16:18 "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.
Do you all still have Matthew in your Bibles, or did it get tossed out during the deformation?
Just kidding I know that it is in prot Bibles, none of you understand it, but you have it.
I am certain that you have been told this before, so feel free to have the last word.
>Where did Jesus give this authority directly to the Catholic Church?
Matthew 16:18 “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.<
Actually, it says the exact the opposite of what you have been led to believe. “Peter” (petros) means little stone, or piece of a rock. The Greek word for “rock” (petra) here means a massive, immovable rock. Jesus was saying that the Church would not be built on a little stone like Peter, but on “this (massive, immovable) rock” who is Christ. Of course, Christ and Peter probably spoke to each other in Aramaic, the common language of the time. Christ may have used specific Aramaic wording to differentiate His meanings, or perhaps He pointed to Peter and then to Himself as He spoke. Matthew in turn makes the case for the contrast between the two rocks by his selection of the Greek. There is no doubt, Christ said that He would build the Church upon Himself, not upon Peter.
Thank you, verga, I don’t have the last word. That is G-d’s authority. :-)
Love Matthew 16. What a powerful message!!
There is a depth in these scriptures that is wonderful. As Jesus often did He used the backdrop of where He was speaking from to give clarity and depth to His words. In the Jewish tradition Christ also used play on words.
Jesus took the disciples to Caesarea Philippi to a site where sacrifices where made to the Greek idol Pan (and before that Ba’al and many others). It was on a rock at Mt. Hermon and the opening was called, “The doorway to Hades”.
Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it.
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.”
20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Christ is saying that His Church would be built upon the fact of what Peter spoke, that He is the Messiah, not on Peter himself. Peter is called a pebble here, not a rock.
Reasoning? Would Jesus build His Church upon man whom is fallible? No. Would He build it upon the fact that He is the Messiah, an infallible truth? Yes.
What was the subject at hand? Peter’s revelation that Jesus was the Messiah, not that Christ had changed Peter’s name from Shim‘on Bar-Yochanan to Shim’on Kefa, nor on Peter himself. Peter was not the subject. That Christ is the Messiah is the subject.
Other scriptures telling us that Christ is the rock:
Daniel 2 The unhewn rock that destroys the nations.
1 Peter 2:4-7
1 Corinthians 3:11
1 Corinthians 10:4
Ephesians 2:12
And we see in Isaiah 22:22 and Revelation 3:7 that Christ is holding the keys to the Kingdom.
In Matthew 18:18 Christ gives authority to all the disciples.
There are many more. Only scripture can interpret scripture and in that fact I am grateful to a glorious God whose Word is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow!
Psalm 62:6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved.
God alone is our rock and our salvation. Not Peter nor anyone else. There is one rock and that is Christ.