Matthew 16:18

Thou art Peter] Gk. Petros Aramaic, Kephas. Jesus had given Peter this name at their first interview (John 1:42). Peter had now realised his character, and Jesus solemnly confirmed the honourable title. And upon this rock] Gk. petra. As the Gk. word here is different, most ancient commentators deny that Peter is the rock. The Roman Catholic Launoy reckons that seventeen Fathers regard Peter as the rock; forty-four regard Peter's confession as the rock; sixteen regard Christ Himself as the rock; while eight are of opinion that the Church is built on all the apostles. Assuming, however, with the majority of modern commentators that Peter is the rock, the interpretation still remains nearly the same, because it is upon Peter, as confessing faith in Christ's divinity, that the Church is founded.

The next question is, 'Was the promise made to Peter exclusively, or did Christ address Peter as the representative of the Twelve, intending to give to all. the same powers that He gave to Peter?' The answer can hardly be doubtful. The whole text speaks of the future. Christ says not 'I build,' but 'I will build'; not 'I give,' but 'I will give,' referring to the future for the explanation. The rest of the NT. shows in what sense the words of Christ are to be understood. On the evening of Easter Day He fulfilled His promise to Peter, by giving to all the Apostles present even greater powers than those which are here promised—'As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And.. he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained' (John 20:22). No power of any kind was then given to Peter which was not given equally to all the Apostles, and in harmony with this all the Apostles are jointly regarded in the NT. as the foundation bn which the Church is built (Matthew 19:28; Ephesians 2:20; Revelation 21:14).

The position of Peter in the Apostolic Church was entirely unlike that of a modern Pope. In Acts 11:2 he is sharply criticised for his conduct in the matter of Cornelius and makes his defence before the Church. At the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) he plays quite a subordinate part. It is James who presides and pronounces the decision, and the decree runs in the name of the apostles and elders. St. Paul claims an authority equal to and independent of Peter's.. He reckons himself 'not a whit behind the very chief est apostles' (2 Corinthians 11:5), and on a celebrated occasion resists Peter and rebukes him to his face (Galatians 2:11). Moreover, the tone of St. Peter's first and certainly genuine epistle is thoroughly unpapal. 'The elders therefore among you, I exhort, who am a fellow elder,' etc.

What then was the nature of the primacy which Peter possessed? It was a primacy of personal character and ability. He excelled the other apostles not in office, but in zeal, courage, promptness of action, and firmness of faith. He was their leader, because he was most fitted to lead. He boldly ventured, where others hesitated. And this explains the peculiarity of the present passage, that the promise was made, in form at least, to Peter alone. The other apostles had by this time attained to the conviction that Jesus was the Messiah (see the parallel narratives), but only Peter had made the great venture of faith which is implied in the acknowledgment of the divinity of Christ.

My church, with emphasis on the My, signifying that the Church is not a human but a divine institution. In this passage the Church is identified with the Kingdom of Heaven.

The gates of hell] i.e. the gates of Hades, Heb. Sheol, the abode of the dead. As the Church is often represented as a city, so here its great adversary Death is poetically represented as a fortified city with walls and gates.

Two distinct promises are here made: (1) that the Church as an organisation shall be indestructible. No persecutions, or assaults of Satan from within or without shall destroy it, because the life which is in it is Christ's; (2) that individual members of the Church, united to Christ and sharing in His indestructible life, shall not be held by the power of death, nor overcome by judgment, but be made 'partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.'