tuppence, let's take a look at what the Bible actually teaches in Matthew 16. In verse 13, Jesus asks His disciples "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" They responded by saying that some people thought Christ was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. "He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (verses 15-18
Jesus was referring to Peter as "the rock", but we have to keep in mind that the New Testament was written in Greek, not English. This is one instance where the original wording reveals the true meaning of what is being said. The Greek word for Peter is petros, which means "a pebble" or a small stone. On the other hand, the Greek word that Jesus used for rock is petra, meaning "a massive rock" or bedrock. Now we can see that there is an obvious difference! Peter was correct when he stated that Jesus was "the Christ" and it was this profession of truth that the church would be founded upon: Jesus Christ "the chief cornerstone" (Matthew 21:42). Jesus was talking about building His church upon the solid bedrock (Peter), not a small pebble.
Psalms, Kings, Isaiah, New Testament: They will proclaim over and over God as my Rock, my refuge, my salvation...
(Ps.18:2,31, 19:14, 27:5, 28:1, 31:2, 61:2, 62:2, 71:3, 73:26, 89:26, 2S.22:2,32,47, Is.31:16, Mt.7:24, 16:18, Lk.6:48, 1Cor.10:4, 1P.2:8.
The gospel of Matthew says:
18 And I tell you that you are Peter (Petros), and on this rock (petra) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
19 I will give you (Peter) the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you (Peter) bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you (Peter) loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Mat.16:18-19).
The original Greek is:
Mat.16:18 kagw de soi legw oti su ei Petros kai epi tauq q petra oikodomhsw mou qn ekklhsian kai pulai adou ou katiscusousin auqs
- Petros: A primary word; a rock... as a name, Petrus, an apostle: Peter.
Jesus did with Peter exactly what God had done with David in the Old Testament:
In Ezekiel 34:15 God says, "I myself shall tend my sheep"... but a few verses later, God says, "I shall raise up one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them; he shall feed them and be their shepherd" (Ez.34:23)...
... And so, he who is faithful to David, or his successors, belongs to the people of God, and he who is not loyal to David, or his successors, does not belong to the people of God, even if he is a Jew born in Jerusalem... rather, he is a rebel, or a heretic...
Jesus did exactly the same with Peter: In John 10, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd"... but in John 21, Jesus says to Peter 3 times, "feed "my" lambs, tend "my" sheep"... the sheep of Jesus!... so now, like in the Old Testament, he who is loyal to Peter, or his successors, belongs to the Church of Christ... and he who is not loyal to Peter, or his successors, does not belong to the Church of Christ, even if he knows all the Bible by heart, he is a "rebel", a "heretic".
Jesus is our Rock, and Peter is the Rock of the Church of Jesus... Jesus Himself says so in the Bible.
Peace