Peter, and THREE Rocks
Peter IS INDEED the “Rock”—Exactly THREE Times!!!
Matthew 16:18,19, “ And I [Jesus] say also unto thee, That thou art Peter [Greek: petros (masculine)], and upon this rock [Greek: petra (feminine)] I will build my church; and the gates of hell [Greek: hades] shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee [Peter] the keys [Greek: kleis] of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians are ALL WRONG about Peter and the rock (in Matthew 16); they debate over whether the rock is Peter, or his confession, or Christ Himself, etc. But Peter IS INDEED the “rock”; and NOT merely in one sense, but in THREE BIBLICAL WAYS!!! Yet Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians don’t understand even ONE of these three ways, correctly—even though all three ways are positively and indisputably taught, in the Bible.
#1. Peter Is the Rock, Who Raised the Dead
Jesus Himself is the “rock [same Greek: petra]” (see Matthew 21:42-45; 1 Corinthians 10:4; Ephesians 2:20; etc)—and He has the “keys [same Greek: kleis] of hell [same Greek: hades] and of death” (Revelation 1:17,18); and Jesus Himself has power to raise the dead, even from a rock tomb and tombstone (see Mark 15:46; John 5:25-29; 10:17-21; 11:1-45; etc). Jesus did indeed give Peter these keys: to unlock the grave, and raise the dead; and it was even a feminine person—the Greek word for rock, petra, is feminine—named Dorcas (see Acts 9:36-43).
#2. Peter Is the Rock, Who Wrote Two Letters
The word of God (the Bible), is also the “rock [same Greek: petra]” (see Deuteronomy 4:13; 5:7-22; Matthew 7:24-27; Luke 6:46-49; 1 Peter 2:4-8; etc). Out of the 12 main disciples, less than half of them wrote even one single book, of the Bible; but Jesus did give Peter the keys—or the infallible authority—to write two of the 66 books, in the Bible: 1 Peter, and 2 Peter (see Luke 11:52; Acts 12:3-10; etc).
#3. Peter Is the Jasper Rock, of New Jerusalem
Revelation 21:10-20, “… the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone … And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles [including Peter] of the Lamb. … And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation [Peter] was jasper; the second [James of Zebedee], sapphire; the third [John], a chalcedony; the fourth [Andrew], an emerald; The fifth [Philip], sardonyx; the sixth [Thomas / Barnabas], sardius; the seventh [Bartholomew / Nathanael], chrysolyte; the eighth [Matthew], beryl; the ninth [James of Alphaeus], a topaz; the tenth [Simon], a chrysoprasus; the eleventh [Judas of Alphaeus], a jacinth; the twelfth [Matthias], an amethyst.” (see Acts 1:13,15-26, KJV; see Matthew 10:2).
The holy city, New Jerusalem, is founded upon 12 “stones” (Greek: lithos); this Greek word is parallel with the Greek word petra, “rocks” (see Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:8; etc). This means that Peter is not merely one, of the twelve foundational rocks—but his rock is jasper, the very “first foundation” (see Matthew 10:2); and foundations are “built” from the bottom up, so Christ’s ultimate church (New Jerusalem) is built upon Peter’s rock: “… thou art Peter, and upon this rock [jasper] I will build my church [the feminine bride of Christ, New Jerusalem] …” (Matthew 16:18; see Ephesians 5:25–32; Revelation 19:7-9; 21:2-10; 22:14-19; etc).
Peter Is NOT the Rock of Rome, or Anything Else!
Matthew 16 is the primary passage, in the Bible, used to support popes and the papacy; and therefore, in turn, to support the entire Roman Catholic Church. Yet there is not a single verse, in the entire Bible, which represents Rome—or anything based in Rome (the church of Rome, or the bishop of Rome, etc)—as a rock; that idea is entirely a foolish fictional fantasy, designed to support man’s unbiblical and ungodly ambitions.
Furthermore, there are ONLY THREE rocks, that represent Peter: #1 Jesus Himself, and His power to resurrect the dead (Jesus gave Peter the power to raise Dorcas); #2 the books of the Bible (Jesus gave Peter the power to write two, of the 66 infallible books); #3 the foundation stones of New Jerusalem (Jesus gave Peter the first layer, Jasper, and thereby Jesus built His invincible church—from the bottom up—on Peter’s rock).
There is no fourth application in Rome, or anywhere else (or anything else). God foresaw the foolishness of man; so He made sure that THREE is repeatedly associated with Peter: he was one of the THREE main disciples (Peter, James, and John); he denied Christ THREE times (see Luke 22:34); and Christ’s THREEfold question to Peter (see John 21:14-17; Acts 10:16; etc). Furthermore, many Bible passages have “two or three” applications (see Exodus 31:18; 32:15; 34:29; Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15; Matthew 18:16; John 1:1-18; 8:17,18; 10:24,25; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28; 1 John 5:6-8; Revelation 1:1,2; 11:3-10; etc); but very rarely, does any verse have four or more true applications: so any teaching with more than three applications, of any passage, should be considered highly suspicious—at best! And in this case, specifically, God has shown us that THREE is the number for Peter (not two, four, or five, etc); so there is absolutely no room, to squeeze in another application with Peter and Rome—especially since Peter was the bishop of Philippi, NOT ROME (https://7grails.world/7-symbolic/sis/syntyche/).
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