Let us begin, shall we? When we left off, Jesus had just finished
warning His disciples about the doctrines of the Pharisees and
Sadducees, and then He went to Bethsaida. People there brought a
blind man to Him and begged Him to touch the man. Jesus took the
blind man by the hand, led him out of the town and when He had spit
on his eyes, He asked him if he saw anything.
The man looked up and said, I see men, like trees, walking. Then
Jesus put His hands on the man's eyes and made him look up again, and
his sight was fully restored and he saw every man clearly. Jesus sent
the man home and told him, Don't go into the town, or tell anyone.
Let's take a small Peter the Rock Bible field trip ... It's a funny
thing when you think about it, that each and every one, of us at one
time or another in our life, has been blind to something. We all have
different degrees of clarity (understanding) about things and we
think we've figured things out and we can see again, but in fact,
things are still blurry but Jesus is the only lens that can make
everything crystal clear for us. Now, back to our story on why Peter
is the Rock.
Then Jesus went into Caesarea Philippi with His disciples and asked
them, Who do people say that I am? They answered Him, Some say that
you're John the Baptist, some say Elijah, some say Jeremiah, and
others say one of the old prophets is risen again. Jesus asked them,
who do you say that I am? Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son
of the living God.
Here is the Peter the Rock Bible quote we have been talking about
where Jesus says that Peter is the Rock and why ... Jesus said,
Blessed are you, because this wasn't revealed to you by man, but by
my Father in Heaven. You are Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against
it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and whatever
you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven and whatever you free on
earth will be free in Heaven.
Well, that last Peter the Rock Bible paragraph has a number of things
in it for us to discuss. First of all, Bar means son of, so Bar-jona
means son of John (Jona = John), it was not Peter's last name. If
you'll notice, most people didn't use a middle name or a surname
(last name) in those times, but they often times identified people by
saying whose son they were.
Next, Jesus says that God gave Peter the inspiration to know who
Jesus was, which must have made Peter gain confidence in himself
again since the walking on water, then sinking incident. Being an
Apostle was full of ups and downs (no pun intended), as you can
imagine. Don't forget their whole lives were devoted to Jesus. They
had to learn everything they possibly could about Him during the
3½ years that they spent with Him so they could spread the
Gospel to the entire world. That sure doesn't sound like it was easy.
Let's delve even deeper into this Peter the Rock Bible event as to
discover more about the specific reason why Peter is the Rock. Jesus
went on to say, You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church. Now, remember that when Jesus first met Peter, He said he
would be called Cephas, which means, A stone. Peter did indeed build
Jesus' church. Not a physical building, but the foundation of
Christianity.
The next thing Jesus said was, and the gates of hell will not prevail
against it. This is a good time to point out an interesting fact. Did
you know that satan must surrender to Jesus? Have you ever
heard of Jesus casting out a demon that wouldn't do as He said? Nope!
And that's why they often said, What do want with us, Jesus? Because
they know that Jesus' power is above all. They cannot disobey
Him.
Next in our Peter the Rock Bible adventure ... Jesus continued His
conversation with Peter by saying, I'll give to you the keys to the
Kingdom of Heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
Heaven and whatever you free on earth will be freed in Heaven. This
is where people get the notion that St. Peter is standing at the
gates of Heaven with the keys in his hand as if he makes the decision
as to whether a person is admitted or not. He certainly does not make
that decision, only God makes that decision. What Jesus meant was
that whoever's sins Peter forgave on earth, would be forgiven in
Heaven, and whoever's sins he retained, or found unforgivable on
earth, would be found guilty in Heaven.
After Jesus told these things to Peter, He told His disciples not to
tell anyone that He was Jesus the Christ. From then on, He started to
tell them that He had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, and
be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
killed and raised to life again on the third day.
As our Peter the Rock Bible research continues, we go from Jesus
saying that Peter is the Rock to Jesus saying that Peter was being
used as Satan's mouthpiece. Let's check it out ... This wasn't very
welcome news to Peter, and he took Jesus aside and started to debate
with Him, saying, God forbid, Lord, this can't happen to you. Jesus
turned around and faced His disciples with Peter behind Him, and He
rebuked Peter sharply saying, Get behind me Satan. You're an offense
to me. You don't understand the things of God, but only the things of
men.
Now, if you take this literally, then, you're gonna misunderstand it,
just like Peter did, so let's look at this a little closer. Here we
have Jesus, revealing to His friends a very important matter. In
order to save the world from sin, and set the New Testament in place,
He must die as the sacrifice for people's sins because God saw that
there was no other way we could make it to Heaven living by the Old
Testament. Think of the New Testament as a will. God sent Jesus as
the testator (someone who leaves a will) of the New Testament, but
the death of the testator (Jesus) is what brings the New
Covenant to life.
Jesus wasn't really calling Peter ... Satan, when He said, Get thee
behind me Satan. He just knew that Satan was trying to get Peter not
to believe that this very important sacrifice really needed to
happen, so Jesus was talking to Satan out loud to reveal the Truth
and remove all doubts. This was truly a thing of God, and Satan would
surely love for the Apostles not to understand it. Wouldn't that be a
smart move on his part?
You see, up until now, the Apostles knew that Jesus was the Messiah,
but they didn't know that He had to die. They thought He was gonna be
the new King of Israel at that time and that they would sit around
with Him at an earthly table and run this new Kingdom! Can you
imagine, the Messiah that the world has waited thousands of years
for, and now He's finally here, but He tells you, His plan for
leading the people, is to die for them. It was very confusing so
Satan probably thought that was the perfect time to place doubt in
their minds.
Put yourself in Peter's place for a moment, now. Your Lord has just
told you that you've been inspired by God, you're the rock that His
church will be built on, you get the keys to Heaven and get to make
executive decisions, and in the very same conversation, be told that
Jesus was gonna suffer, die, and rise from the dead, and that satan
is talking through you. It must have been a very emotional
experience, but the Apostles had seen and heard so many extraordinary
things which gave them steely determination, and that's what counts.
It's that kind of determination that we need too, as Christians in
today's world, to be able to hold on when confusing or difficult
situations arise. Be strong like a rock ... Like Peter.
When Jesus called the people to join Him with His disciples, He said,
If any man will follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow me. Did you hear that? It's a daily sacrifice
to be a Christian. What is your sacrifice to Him? Your Faith and your
time. Time with Him and for Him.
Jesus went on, Whoever will save (value their life over Truth) his
life will lose it, and whoever will lose (sacrifice) his life for my
sake, will find it. Okay, now when you read this, does it make you
feel like you should be sad about it? The word lose, or sacrifice,
makes it sound like something that you don't want to do, but look at
this with a different attitude for just a moment. Let's take the
first part, If your worldly life is very precious to you, you'll lose
it.
As we see in James
4:4, A friend of the world is an enemy of God ... So if you deem
your life more important than the cause, you will lose it. Every hero
you admire in books and movies has surrendered all for a cause. Jesus
surrendered His life and experienced unimaginable pain and suffering
for you.
So how will this apply to our lives? It is simple.
If the world asks you to defy Jesus by word or deed, it should be in
your mind and heart ... That it would be better to die than to trade
up Jesus.
If the End
Times occur while you are still living, you may get first hand
knowledge of what this means.
Peter the Rock Bible ABCs
Peter is the Rock and Repenting
Now, the second part, A sacrifice is a gift. If you give your life to
and even for Jesus if necessary, you will find eternal life ... It
sure doesn't sound sad anymore, does it? How do you give your life to
Jesus? Once again, you give Him your faith, and your time. Spend time
alone with your Father. Trade up some of that worldly time for Jesus
time. Commit the things you do to Him. Change your priorities.
Make a list with every letter of the alphabet of things you can do
for God today. Start with the letter A. For example ... Adore Him, Becon Him, Cherish Him, Devote yourself to
Him, Educate yourself more about Jesus, etc.
Hang your list up where you can read it once a day, and most
importantly, do something on the list! Now, back to our story. You'll
feel the change within you.
Then Jesus said, How is a man better off if he gains the whole world,
but loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his
soul? In the end, there are only two places that your soul can go ...
Heaven
or Hell. There's an interesting study about this that
you're sure to learn a lot from, called Fear of
Death. That should answer a lot of questions about your soul in
case you were wondering.
As we continue, Jesus said to the people and His disciples, The Son
of man will come in the glory of His Father with His Angels, and then
He'll reward every man according to his works. So, whoever is ashamed
of me and of my Words in this sinful generation, I'll be ashamed of
them too, in front of my Father.
But, I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall
not taste of death, till they see the Kingdom of God.
What does this mean??? I'd like you to remember back when Jesus was
describing the Kingdom of Heaven and telling in parables that the
Kingdom is within us. For a moment, let's assume that the death that
Jesus is speaking of is not the death of the body or the end of
anything, it's the realm of Paradise ... The continuation of our path
to eternal life, once our earthly bodies expire.
Have you experienced the Kingdom of God? Weren't all those parables
describing what our lives are like once we invite Jesus into them?
Let me follow that question with some more questions. How have people
in the past experienced the Kingdom? Do you think that the children
of Israel experienced the Kingdom while they were in the wilderness?
Do you suppose a cloud by day and fire by night to guide them, manna,
the waters of Meribah, their shoes and clothes not wearing out and
not a feeble person among them ... Do you suppose this is
experiencing the Kingdom? Do you suppose the people who witnessed all
of Jesus' miracles experienced the Kingdom?
How about the Holy
Spirit working in our lives today? What about when you witness
something and you know in your heart that it couldn't possibly have
happened without God's hand? Aren't you experiencing the Kingdom
then? You may have even experienced the Kingdom while reading
something in one of these stories of Jesus ... Maybe a parable that
you never understood before suddenly has new meaning and it makes
sense to you now. You experience the mysteries of the Kingdom so
often, yet don't realize it. So perhaps what Jesus was referring to,
was that unless the Kingdom is within us ... Unless He is
within us ... We will not get a taste of what Paradise is.
Now, let's assume that the death Jesus was speaking of is ... Death
eternally. Once you've experienced the Kingdom, if you are overcome
by the evil of the world and reject Jesus forever, you will taste
this other death. Just remember, that we all are faced with trial and
tribulation and sometimes we fall, but when we repent, the Grace of God
by the death of Jesus Christ, is the sacrifice and the promise that
He made to us, which gives us the hope of eternal life.
A wise friend of mine always says, You haven't really lived, until
you find something worth dying for. My friends, I hope you find that
something ... And I hope that something is Jesus.
The Peter the Rock Bible summary on why Jesus said that Peter is the
Rock is clear now. Peter is the foundation (beginning) of the
Christian Church of
which you are now or can choose to be a part of ...
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Peter the Rock Bible Resources
Christianity.com ... What Did Jesus Mean 'On This Rock I Will Build My Church? It is the testimony that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Messiah, that Christ will build His church, not the authority of any single man.
Crosswalk.com ... Who Was Peter and Why Was He So Important? "Upon this rock I will build my church" - Jesus Calls Peter. After this restoration, Jesus gifted Peter back his identity, which was the most important thing about him—His belonging to God.
Got Questions ... What is the rock in Matthew 16:18? “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.
Grace to You ... Peter, the Rock of the Church - The antecedent of rock is taken to be Peter's divinely inspired confession of Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God”.
Holy Spirit ... Peter the Rock Bible entity was a Christian much like other Christians. He fell down and he got up. He had the Holy Spirit which made it much better. You should experience the same gift from the Lord. This is one of the most awesome gifts you will ever receive or share. Peter is the Rock but His strength come from the Lord.
Knowing Jesus ... 67 Bible verses about Peter, The Disciple - 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.”
Olive Tree Bible Software ... Peter the Pebble - Peter the Rock. In this practical and engaging study, you will discover how Peter's transformation from pebble to rock reflects the story of each believer.
The Gospel Coalition ... What Does 'This Rock' Refer to in Matthew 16:18? The Roman Catholic Church interprets “this rock” in reference to Peter as the first pope and the beginning of apostolic succession:
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