What does Matthew 16:18 mean?
This verse is often misunderstood because it is often misused. As with other verses, this is partly due to translation. The words written in Greek show a relationship not so obvious in English. Here, Jesus is responding to Peter's declaration that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He declared Peter blessed for understanding this and insisted this understanding was given to Peter by God the Father (Matthew 16:13–17).Roman Catholics point to what Jesus says here as evidence that Jesus established Peter as the first holder of a special office in the church on earth. They believe Peter to have been the first Pope, that Jesus gave him a spiritual authority over the other disciples and all believers in this moment. According to that claim, the "rock" Jesus will build on is Peter, himself.
However, there is an element of wordplay involved here. As written in Greek, Peter's name is Petros, meaning "a rock" or "a stone," and the word Jesus uses for the foundation is petra, which means "rock" in the sense of a substance or material. Jesus does not say "you are Petros, and on this Petros I will build…" nor does He say, "you are petra, and on this petra I will build." Rather, He says "you are Petros [a stone], and on this petra [rock] I will build my church." The rock on which God will establish His church is in the confession Peter has just made: that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16).
Peter certainly becomes the leader of the disciples and first spokesman for Christ in the earliest days of the church. Under the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter preaches the initial sermon as the church is born and 3,000 people come to faith in Christ in a single day (Acts 2). Peter, though, is far from infallible and his faith falters on several occasions, both before Christ's death and resurrection (Matthew 16:23) and during the time of the apostles (Galatians 2:11–14).
However, the church—the collection of all people who come to faith in Christ as Savior––exists only because of the central truth that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. That is the power that keeps the gates of hell from overcoming those who are in Christ, His people, the church. Peter plays a vital role for a time, but eventually disappears even from the story of the church's beginnings after Acts 16. Just as was promised, the foundation of God's new covenant is not centered around any fallible person or place, but in the hearts and minds of each individual person (Hebrews 8:6–13).
