The reading for Trinity 12 in Year A is Matthew 16.13–20. It is Peter’s confession of who Jesus is as Messiah, but it also contains Matthew’s unique material in which Jesus calls Peter ‘rock’, gives him the keys to the kingdom, and commissions him to bind and loose.
But these three ideas are much misunderstood, and we need to see them in both canonical and cultural context to read them well. This passage tells both of Jesus identity as Son of the Living God, but also of the remarkable partnership he calls us into in the things of the kingdom.
For written commentary on this passage, see here.
For discussion of the word ‘church’ and why we should mostly avoid it in translating the New Testament, see here.
For the very encouraging Grove booklet on Encouragement by Ian Silk, see here.
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No live link to a video – perhaps this is one of the “holes” which will be filled in later???
As I’ve just said in my email, no need to reply.
Regarding Peter as the ‘rock’ — I posted this comment today on the 2023 discussion — but it is probably better here.
I am persuaded by Michael Heiser.
He argues that ‘this rock’ is not Peter or his confession — but Mount Hermon, considered to be the ‘gates of hell [hades]’ — the gateway to the realm of the dead. He points out that in the OT Bashan and Hermon were associated with the netherworld and hostile divine powers — linked to Rephaim/giant clans, King Og, and Baal-Hermon cult worship (and in 1 Enoch 6 it is the site where the “sons of God”/Watchers descended).
Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham, 2015), 280–290
This understanding is consonant with the cross as a fulfilment of the protoevangelium of Genesis 3:15 and the ‘crushing’ of Satan’s head. Paul sees that the church has an ongoing role in this: ‘The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet’ (Romans 16:20).
Throughout scripture, just who is the Rock. It is not Peter, not fulfilled in Peter. Nor, a mount.
For a splendid opening up by implication, see Dr Michael Reeves at this year’s Keswick Convention, week 3. Reality revealed and exulted, exalted, in Christ.
I wasn’t there, but the series was highly commended, after yesterday’s service by a Christian friend, who was.
Indeed in the first day Reeves referd to Genesis 3:15 as fulfilled by and in Jesus.
Jesus is also the Rock in the desert.
Your suggestion in your interval I want to encourage both of you and what you’re doing. I’ve been a Christian since I was 16 now 79 almost, I find listening to your podcast refreshing challenging thought provoking and encouraging. Please keep going. God bless.
This whole passage is about Identity
Who is Simon, Who Peter, Who is Christ?
ergo Who are You /We? What are We / You becoming?
I think that Jurica Šinko @ readingjohn.com
“John 1:42 Explained: Why Jesus Renamed Simon to Peter”
Has some very good insights
“Simon was impulsive. He was fiercely loyal one minute and shockingly cowardly the next. He was the one who would leap out of the boat in a storm and the one who would sink like a… well, a stone.
He was, in other words, a total human. A reactor. A man of big emotions. He was anything but a rock
So, Jesus wasn’t correcting a bad name. He was assigning a new destiny. He wasn’t erasing Simon’s past. He was giving him a new future. It was a promotion. An ordination. It was a divine calling that would supersede, but not entirely erase, the man he had been.
The name “Simon” (meaning “he has heard”) represented his old, natural self. The new name “Peter” signified his new identity and divine calling as a foundational leader.
Jesus wasn’t naming Simon’s character. He was declaring his calling. He was speaking to the finished product, not the raw material.
I think this is not dissimilar to Jacob the supplanter to Israel – Overcomer.
It was 100% a prophecy. And like all good prophecies, it had a fulfilment.
Then, Simon Peter, the impulsive one, speaks up. But this time, his impulsiveness is guided by divine revelation. “You are the Messiah,” he declares, “the Son of the living God.”
Your old man, Simon, didn’t figure this out. This truth was revealed to you by my Father. And you, Peter, the man you are becoming, the man who speaks this foundational truth
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus uses two different (but related) Greek words:
Petros (masculine): “You are Petros…” This is Peter’s name. It means a stone, or a piece of rock.
Petra (feminine): “…and on this Petra I will build my church.” This means a large rock mass, a cliff, or bedrock.
He often calls him “Peter” when he’s acting in his new, apostolic authority (like in Matthew 16).
But he often reverts to “Simon” in moments of intimate correction or before a great test.
My absolute favourite example is at the Last Supper (Luke 22:31-32). Jesus looks at him and says, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Notice that. He’s about to face his greatest failure—the denial. His “Simon” nature is about to be on full display. Jesus calls him “Simon” four times. It’s like he’s saying, “Your humanity is about to be tested, Simon. You’re going to fail. But I’ve prayed for you. And when you return… you will fulfil your ‘Peter’ calling. You will be the rock. You will strengthen your brothers.”
This, right here, shows the reality of our transformation. It’s a process. We live in the tension between our “Simon” nature and our “Peter” identity. But the “Peter” identity, the one Christ gives us, is the one that ultimately wins.
For 2,000 years, theologians have debated what “this rock” (petra) refers to.
“I know who you are. You are Simon, son of John. But I know who you will be. You will be Kepha.”
John’s Gospel is different from the others. It’s deeply theological. Every story, every detail, is there for a reason. He is relentlessly focused on the question of identity.
Throughout his book, he has Jesus declaring “I AM…” “I AM the Bread of Life.” “I AM the Light of the World.” “I AM the Good Shepherd.” “I AM the Resurrection and the Life.”
John’s Gospel is a book-length answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?”
John doesn’t stick this story in the middle of his book. He puts it in chapter one. That’s intentional. He’s showing that the one who is the great “I AM” is also the one who gets to tell us who we are. The one who is the Word is the one who speaks new realities into existence.
This wasn’t just a nickname. It was an act of creation.
The story of John 1:42 is a seed. It’s a tiny verse, a brief moment. But in that moment, a new destiny was forged. The full, grown tree is what we see on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), when “Peter, standing with the eleven,” no longer an impulsive fisherman, no longer a fearful denier, but a rock of faith, stands and preaches the first Christian sermon. Three thousand people were saved.
The transformation was complete!
.Shalom.
In the video you said the church was built on the foundation of the apostles. Surely that perfectly fits with Jesus’ word to Peter (and perhaps to the Twelve as a whole) that the ‘church’ is indeed built on him/them from Pentecost. Peter was also the key speaker on the day of Pentecost. Clearly Jesus is the cornerstone, but that doesnt seem to be what Jesus is referring to.
Rev 21: ‘The wall of the city (Jerusalem) had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.’
Why, otherwise, does Jesus bother to link the very meaning of Peter’s name to the foundation of the coming church?
One might want to consider the centrality of God given
revelation Mat 16:17
Luke 10:22 All things are delivered to me of my Father:
and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father;
and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son
will reveal him.
The motif of revelation in the Bible is the recurring theme of God actively making Himself, His character, and His divine plans known to humanity.
Revelation is in God’s gift alone; Paul’s prayer for the Church
was Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Although we may have the mind of God or Christ or The Spirit
It is yet incumbent on us to chose to “Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus”.
The meaning and purpose of revelation – the subject is awesome.
Shalom.