Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals
Tuesday August 4 2026
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Matthew 16:15-19-He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 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. 18 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. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
In this passage of Scripture, we are told about a conversation that Jesus has with His Apostles. In it, He promises to build His church. Notice that He says that He will build His church upon “this rock.”
What exactly is “the rock” upon which the church is built?
Our Roman Catholic friends declare that since the name “Peter” means “rock” (cf. John 1:43), that Jesus promises here to build His church on the Apostle Peter, and therefore Peter was the first Pope of the church.
What shall we make of this?
Let’s study.
First, observe that in the passage, Jesus uses two different words when referring to “Peter” and to the “rock.” The word “Peter” is petros, a word that means a detached stone, like a pebble. The word “rock” here is petra, and denotes a massive and solid rock foundation. More to the point, the words “petros” and “petra” are different genders in the Greek, showing that they are not being used interchangeably and are not referring to the same thing.
He showed me in one of his books that the two Greek words te petra, which are the words for “the rock,” are feminine. It read, “The article e [which includes te] indicates that the nouns are feminine.” 6 Yet, petros, the name for Peter, being a male, is masculine. The conclusion was inescapable: just as it would be grammatically erroneous for someone to call me a female, so it would be erroneous for Jesus to describe Peter with a female noun. And Jesus never made errors. No. Jesus was not identifying Peter as the rock upon which He would build his church! He was not setting up some papacy! We have not been told the truth! (Gary Henson, The Ivory Domino, 116-117 (Kindle Edition): Charleston, AR: Cobb Publishing)
Second, Jesus changes from second to third person in this passage. He doesn’t say, “You are Peter, and UPON YOU I will build My church.” No, He references Peter and then says that UPON THIS ROCK I will build My church. His change from second to third person shows that He is making a clear distinction between Peter and the rock.
Next, note that when Christ speaks to Peter, He does so in the second person; that is, direct address. Yet, the term “this rock” is third person (indirect address indicated by the use of ταύτη ), making the differentiation between “Peter” and “this rock” complete, even if one accepts the Catholic apologists’ contention of an Aramaic original without differentiation of the genders, masculine and feminine, of “rock.” He is speaking to Peter, about the “rock.” Hence the text differentiates between Peter and the rock in two ways: the form of the word, and the person of address. (James R. White, Answers To Catholic Claims: A Discussion Of Biblical Authority, 1558 (Kindle Edition): Southbridge, Massachusetts: Crowne Publications)
Third, the passage itself shows us what the rock is upon which the church is built: it is Peter’s confession of Who Jesus is that he had just made (Matthew 16:16)! The fact that the parallel accounts focus on Jesus’ identity as the Messiah and Peter’s confession of this provides another evidence to us that this is the true Rock upon which the church is built (Mark 8:27-29; Luke 9:18-20).
Fourth, the majority of the early Christians after the Apostolic Age understood the “Rock” of Matthew 16:18 to be the confession of Peter.
Dr. Kendrick, Catholic archbishop of St. Louis, grouped together the various interpretations of these Fathers as follows: 1. Seventeen Fathers designed Peter as the rock upon which the church is built. 2. Eight Fathers, including Origen, Cyprian, and Jerome, taught that the whole apostolic college is the rock. 3. Forty-four Fathers, including Gregory of Nyssa, Chrysostom, Hilary, and Ambrose, designated Peter’s confession of Christ’s divine Sonship as the Rock. 4. Sixteen Fathers that the Christ Himself was the rock. From this information, we conclude that even the religious leaders upon whose teaching the Roman Catholic Church extensively relies were not in agreement as to the meaning of the supposed magna charta of the papacy, Matthew 16:18, which proves false the statement of Bellarmine that the interpretation of this passage which designates Peter as the rock upon which the church is built had “the consent of the entire church, both Greek and Latin Fathers. (James Tolle, Was The Apostle Peter A Pope? I8; Pasadena, TX; Haun Publishing Company)
Fifth, those early Christians who thought that the rock was Peter did not believe it granted him any special primacy over the other Apostles, nor did they believe that it granted authority to anyone after him.
All this is intelligible enough, if we look at the patristic interpretation of the words of Christ to St. Peter. Of all the Fathers who have exegetically explained these passages in the Gospels (Matt. xvi. 18, John xxi. 17), not a single one applies them to the Roman bishops as Peter’s successors. How many Fathers have busied themselves with these texts, yet not one of them…—Origen, Chrysostom, Hilary, Augustine, Cyril, Theodoret, and those whose interpretations are collected in catenas,—has dropped the faintest hint that the primacy of Rome is the consequence of the commission and promise to Peter! NOT ONE OF THEM HAS EXPLAINED THE ROCK OR FOUNDATION ON WHICH CHRIST WOULD BUILD HIS CHURCH OF THE OFFICE GIVEN TO PETER TO BE TRANSMITTED TO HIS SUCCESSORS, BUT THEY UNDERSTOOD BY IT EITHER CHRIST HIMSELF, OR PETER’S CONFESSION OF FAITH IN CHRIST; OFTEN BOTH TOGETHER. OR ELSE THEY THOUGHT PETER WAS THE FOUNDATION EQUALLY WITH ALL THE OTHER APOSTLES, THE TWELVE BEING TOGETHER THE FOUNDATIONS-STONES OF THE CHURCH. (Apoc. xxi. 14). (Janus, Von Dollinger, Janus, The Pope And The Council, 90-91 (Kindle Edition, emphasis added M.T.); Pneuma Press)
The church of Christ is built upon Jesus.
Are you a faithful member of His church?
Lord Jesus, thank You for being our Rock in this difficult world. Amen.