Trust & Obey, Week 2: Matthew 16 & 18, Preview
Do you have a nickname? Nicknames are fun. They can build a warm, relational bond. Did you know that Jesus seems to like using nicknames?
To his disciples James and John, he gave the nickname “Sons of Thunder.” To another disciple, Simon, he gave the nickname “Cephas” (Aramaic) or “Peter” (Greek), which both mean “the Rock.” (Side note: Peter’s father was named John, so Peter was son of John, and in their ancient culture, your surname was often just “son of ____”, which has carried down through the centuries to some of our contemporary surnames that have “son” at the end. “Son of John” becomes “Johnson”. Peter, then, could be called “Simon ‘The Rock’ Johnson.” I wonder if he could do the People’s Eyebrow?”).
That nickname “Peter” is from the Greek word “petros”. You can hear the connection to our English word “petroleum.” (Side note: petroleum is a combo word. It takes the Greek, “petros,” combines it with the Latin, “oleo,” which put together refers to oil that comes from rock.)
This week, as we continue our Trust and Obey blog series, we will look at one time Jesus used Peter’s nickname to talk about the church. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus says that he will build his church on the foundation of a rock. Always good to build on a strong foundation. When builders are erecting skyscrapers, they really want to build on immovable bedrock, because those skyscrapers are so tall, so heavy. They don’t want a Leaning Tower of Pisa situation. That has always been true, including in ancient Palestine.
Using that common building metaphor, then, Jesus says that he is going to build his church on the strong foundation of rock. That part of the verse is easy to understand. What is not as easy to understand is which rock Jesus is talking about.
Most literally, it seems that Jesus is referring to Peter himself. Is there something special about Peter? Because his nickname is “The Rock”, maybe Jesus is saying, “Peter you are that one special leader that is going to lead and build my church.” Historically, that prediction becomes reality. After the hugely disappointing episode where Peter denies Jesus three times is all cleared up, and Peter is restored in John 21, Peter takes a leading role in the church. He leads the charge to fill the 12th disciple spot vacated by Judas Iscariot (Acts 1). Peter preaches the first sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). In Acts chapters 1-6, and then Acts 10-12, Peter is arguably the central leader of the church. After that, though, we know that James the brother of Jesus becomes the leader of the mother church in Jerusalem, and Peter travels as a missionary. But as far as missionaries go, it is Paul who seems to be depicted as leader. So how could the church be built upon Peter?
Tradition has it that Peter goes to Rome and becomes the leader or bishop of the Christians in Rome. Peter also writes 1st and 2nd Peter. Eventually Peter is killed, crucified upside-down, something he asks for when he is about to be killed, because he did not feel worthy to be crucified right side up like Jesus. Years later when the idea of naming popes becomes a thing, the catholic church declares, based on Matthew 16, that Peter must be that special foundational leader, ordained by Jesus, and therefore all succeeding popes are “built” on the foundation of Peter. To this day, one of the Pope’s titles is “successor the prince of the apostles,” which is referring to Peter. Further the Pope presides over the church called St. Peter’s Basilica, which is adjacent to St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
But Protestants have a different idea about the foundation of the church. Protestants believe Jesus was not saying that Peter was the rock upon which the church would be built. Instead, Jesus is just using wordplay to make a point about a different foundation, the real foundation of the church.
This coming week on the blog, we talk about the foundation of church.
Photo by yash banerjee on Unsplash
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