The word is God is Yes and Amen! Outside that revelation, you will grope and yet—you won’t find meaning to the Word. I want us to check the scriptures concerning the belief, widely propagated by the Roman Catholic church and her daughters, that the church was built on Apostle Peter. God bless you as you follow with an open heart!
18. And I say also unto thee, That thou art , and upon this I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
—Matthew 16:18
The name was given to Simon Barjona by Jesus (); Cephas which is of Aramaic origin means a Stone—an alias for Peter. It’s just like saying Jesus gave you a name—Bright which is of English origin, being French, people call you Brillant instead (Cephas and Peter are of the same meaning but different origins). Peter which is Petros means a rock or a stone—more like a pebble.
on the other hand is a word that means a rock, cliff or ledge—not a stone. It denotes something large, as it speaks more of the enormity of a rock. It also metaphorically speaks of a man like a rock, by reason of his firmness and strength of soul.- Petros—a stone or a rock
- Petra—a mass of rock (literally or figuratively)
When not examined rightly, those two words may seem same yet they are of different meanings to the speaker—Jesus
Let’s examine the verse
And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter,—pointing to Cephas (Simon Barjona) as the subject of the discussion.
and upon this rock I will build my church;—if rock as used here is petros, it would have read “and upon this Peter I will build my church“ or “and upon this stone I will build my church” but the greek word translated here as rock is petra which indicates an enormous rock—not a pebble or stone.
Let’s also examine the adjective this which qualifies rock (Petra: Noun Feminine)—that pushes the conversation from the earlier subject Peter to a new subject, Rock.
Compare these statements:
Statements A
- Thou art Peter, and upon this Peter I will build my church
- Thou art Peter, and upon you I will build my church
Statement B
- Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church
In the first group of statements, the statement “Thou art Peter, and upon this Peter I will build my church”; highlights two subjects—both called Peter while from the statement “Thou art Peter, and upon you I will build my church”, it could be inferred that there is only one subject—Peter
In the second group, the statement “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church” shifts the focus from Peter when it mentioned this rock. If Jesus was referring to Peter as the one on whom the church would be built as the Roman Catholic and her daughters claim, the statement would have read “Thou art Peter, and upon you I will build my church” or the greek version would have used petros as needed—”Thou art Petros, and upon this Petros I will build my church”
Let’s go over to the next rotulus, Who is this Rock?
1 Comment
That’s right. Thanks for the exposition.