Of Peter

Of Peter, Rocks and Keys

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’

“And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’

“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’

“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’

“And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 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. 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.’” —Matthew 16:13-10 NRSV.

“If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

“If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

“Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” —Matthew 18:15-20 NRSV.

“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’

“After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’

“When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” —John 20:19-23 NRSV.

Roman tradition interprets these passages to mean the following:

1. Jesus invested Peter as “the rock,” with authority over the other disciples.

2. When Jesus returned to heaven, Peter was to exercise this divine authority in His place.

3. Peter transmitted his authority to an unbroken succession of bishops of Rome.

4. Thus the Roman church has sole divine authority to decide who will be admitted to heaven, and God himself must comply with Roman decisions.

But there are other interpretations:

As reported by Matthew in the Greek language, Jesus named Simon Petrov (Petros, a fragment of stone), then said that upon this petra (petra, a large rock, like a cliff), He would build His church. Some suggest that the petra on which the church was built was not Peter himself, but his recognition of Jesus as Messiah. Others can see Jesus pointing to Himself as the petra on which His church was established.

Employing a different word for rock, liyov (lithos), Peter and Matthew both insist that Jesus is their rock. “This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” —Acts 4:11, 12 NRSV.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes”?’” —Matthew 21:42 NRSV.

Paul describes Christ Himself as the rock (petra): “For they drank from the spiritual rock (petra) that followed them, and the rock was Christ.” —1 Corinthians 10:4 NRSV.

Surely it is clear that the Christian church is founded upon Jesus Himself:

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.” —1 Corinthians 3:11 NRSV.

But for purposes of discussion, we may wish to admit that the church, as the household of God, was founded upon Peter (and the other apostles):

“For through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.” —Ephesians 2:18-20 NRSV.

We can agree that Christ built his church upon the apostles and prophets. Of course Paul was not speaking of a church building constructed upon bodies of human beings. He must mean that the church was built upon the teachings of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself the chief cornerstone.

Where do we find the teachings of the prophets? In the Bible, especially the Old Testament books. How do we know the teachings of the apostles? From the Bible, especially the New Testament books. So let us agree that church teachings must be established directly upon the Holy Scriptures.

From Acts 15 it appears that in the early church it was not Peter but James who was chairman, or first among equals. If Jesus had given primacy to Peter, it seems strange that the disciples should argue repeatedly about who was to be the greatest.

Far from being infallible, Peter was recognized by Jesus as expressing the very thoughts of Satan:

“And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’” —Matthew 16:22, 23 NRSV.

Jesus never claimed that eternal life is based upon allegiance to Peter, but rather that this gift comes from a personal knowledge of God:

“And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” —John 17:3.

In their exercise of the keys, the apostles were authorized to forbid only what is forbidden in heaven, and to permit only what is permitted in heaven. They were to teach only what Jesus had taught them.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” —Matthew 28:19.

The promise of Jesus regarding His participation in human decisions was not limited to Peter. This invitation to invoke the presence of Jesus when we pray for divine guidance seems open to all Christians.

It was not in the apostolic church, but four hundred years later, that bishops of Rome began to claim that their authority came through Peter (Pope Leo I, about 445 AD).

Even in the Roman tradition, papal infallibility did not become doctrine until 1870. This alleged infallibility is still severely limited to those occasions when the pope speaks officially ex cathedra (from the chair of Peter) in matters of faith and morals. Pope John XXIII recognized his human limitations in these words: “I’m not infallible; I’m infallible only when I speak ex cathedra. But I’ll never speak ex cathedra.” And he never did.

In summary, it seems to me that Jesus commissioned his apostles to act in His name, only to the extent that their actions would be in agreement with the principles of heaven. While some teach that I must understand the Scriptures only as filtered through church tradition. I believe God has made His word available to all of us, and we may expect guidance from the same Spirit of truth who inspired the Scriptures.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” —John 16:12, 13 NRSV.

“In vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines. You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” —Mark 7:7, 8 NRSV.