Upon This Rock

“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, saying,
‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’
So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist,
some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’
He said to them, ‘But who do YOU say that I am?’
Simon Peter answered and said,
‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’

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.
And I also say to you that you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.’”
Matthew 16:13-17

Upon what rock?

Some say that Jesus built his church upon Peter. But think about it, does that even make sense? Would Jesus build his church upon a man, even a good man? Of course not. It’s vitally important to understand this. Jesus did not build his church upon a man, he built his church upon the REVELATION that HE, Jesus, is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Flesh and blood cannot reveal this to a human being, it can only come by the Father in heaven.

Scripture tells us that JESUS is the rock, the foundation, the chief cornerstone, and that there is NO OTHER:

“For NO OTHER foundation can anyone lay
than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 3:11

“Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.”
This is not a prayer to Peter.

Peter never was the head of the newly-born Church. In the Book of Acts, there was a conflict presented to the apostles about whether the Gentiles coming to faith in Jesus Christ must submit to the Mosaic laws and be circumcised. After they debated the issue thoroughly, it was the apostle James who gave the decision.

“And after they had become silent, James answered…”
Acts 15:13

Peter was there, but James gave the decision:

As James gives the verdict, notice the words “I judge.”

vs 18:20
“Known to God from eternity are all his works.
Therefore I judge that we should not trouble
those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God…”

Peter knew the rock wasn’t himself. Hear Peter’s confession:

“The stone which the builders rejected
has become the chief CORNERSTONE..

1st Peter 2:7

Later, the apostle Paul gives a report on a conflict between himself and Peter, and it was obvious Peter was no “pope,” for Paul would never have withstood him if he were:

“Now when Peter had come to Antioch,
I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;”
Galatians 2:11

If there were to be any “Pope,” it would have been Paul, because Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, while Peter became the apostles to the Jews:

“…the Gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me( Paul),
as the Gospel for the circumcised (the Jews) was to Peter,
for He who worked effectively in Peter
for the apostleship to the circumcised
also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles…”
Galatians 2:7-8

The Gospel of Jesus Christ does not have a “pope,” the Gospel is all about Jesus Christ and not about any other. The whole Gospel is the story of man’s fall, man’s inborn sin nature, and the provision God made for man’s salvation through Jesus Christ who became the atonement for our sin. That is the Gospel. It’s all about Jesus Christ; it’s all about the atonement he provided to save us. It’s ALL about him! And ONLY him!

One can know all about Jesus, but not know him; many read the Bible but never know it. To be able to read the Bible and receive God’s Word from it, one must be born again. Jesus said, ” Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You MUST be born again. ‘” (John 3:7) When one is born again, the Spirit of God speaks to that person through the Word of God, and continuously reveals more and more Biblical truth throughout the person’s life, and that’s why the person is in love with the Word of God. It’s new every morning. It is alive to that person.

If you are not born again, ASK the Lord to REVEAL himself to you.

ASK him to bring you into his salvation. You will be born again when you can say from your heart: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

ASK for the born-again transformation, and he will give you a whole new life.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit
to those who ASK Him!
Luke 11:13