From today’s reading...
So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community. And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it.” Matthew 16:18
Protestants are not big fans of the Pope, and few agree that Peter was the first Pope.
To defend their position, they refer to the Greek words petros and petra. Petros roughly means “small, moveable rock or pebble.” Petra is basically a big ol’ immovable boulder.
Protestants will then get into the whole masculine/feminine meaning of words, and they spiral down a rabbit hole that fits their narrative, and based on their starting point, they are right.
“Aurgh? Whatchutalkinbout, Willis?”
I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. Based on their starting point, the Protestants are coming to rational conclusions, but they are like the drunk looking for his lost keys under the light pole, not because that’s where he dropped his keys, but because that’s where the light is better.
The drunk—and the Protestants—can look for 1,000 years, and they’ll never find the Truth, because they are starting off in the wrong direction, which reminds of the adage, “It doesn’t matter what the truth is if you can get them asking the wrong questions.”
While the New Testament may have been originally written in Greek, that is not the language Jesus and Peter and the Apostles spoke.
No siree, Bob.
They spoke Aramaic, which is why you see Jesus call Peter Cephas in John 1:42, which is John’s version of the story in today’s reading from Matthew as well as Mark, chapter eight. Paul also refers to Peter as Cephas in Galatians 2:9, 11, 14, 1 Corinthians 1:12, 1 Corinthians 3:22, 1 Corinthians 9:5, and 1 Corinthians 15:5.
So there was no confusion about “little rock” or “pebble” or “big stone.”
Besides, in both Matthew and John, we see that the setting is described as being in Caesarea Philippi, which was well known during their time due to the manner in which much of the important structures of the city were built into the southwestern base of Mount Hermon.
If this were to happen today, Jesus might take His Apostles to Mount Rushmore or Half Dome in Yosemite or Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps.
Additionally, when someone is renamed in the Bible, it’s a “promotion.”
It’s a significant event.
It’s not a demotion.
Think about it.
Why would Jesus go out of His way to bring His Apostles to a visibly stunning, historically meaningful place only to rename Peter to put him down? It’s silly. It would not happen that way, and it did not happen that way.
Finally, we know this to be true because of what Jesus does next: He gives the keys of the kingdom to Peter, which is a reference to Isaiah 22:22 (interesting that on 2/22/22, we reference Isaiah 22:22, huh? But I digress.)
But I’ll dive into that verse at a later date.
Suffice it to say, Jesus knew what He was doing.
He knows how weak we are.
He knew what was in store for Himself, and He knows we are sheep in need of a shepherd.
He knows that to build a robust and lasting structure, it must be made on solid ground, i.e., a Cephas, a big stone.
Ponder and pray over the meaning of Matthew 16 and Isaiah 22, which is the only way to...
Stay the course.
Keep the faith.
Endure.
Now go sell something.
