There's Something Fishy About the "Rock"

Buckle up, buttercup! We're talking about the Papacy.

The Papacy is at the root of the disagreements amongst Christians because it comes down to one thing: authority. What did Jesus intend his Church to look like after his Ascension?

This post is my longest yet. Please do not let the length overwhelm you! Read it in chunks if necessary. I hope it fills you with the peace of Christ, knowing that He set us up with all we need to remain United in the Truth.

As with all my posts: take this post as an opportunity to find a few stepping stones towards learning about the richness and beauty of the Catholic faith. Looking at the whole can be overwhelming, so look at one piece at a time, while recognizing that there is some wisdom that will not come in this life.

Let’s dive in!

Disunity → Unity

Before you hop off this post, seeing that I’m another Catholic using Matthew 16 to support the Papacy, know that I bring up other verses later on. I ask that you read to the end and see if I give any new ideas for you to mull over.

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father….”

Matthew 16:13-17

Notice how there is disunity in the response of the disciples. People cannot seem to agree on who the Son of Man is: “[s]ome say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” There is confusion, and, furthermore, all of those responses are wrong. “Left to our own devices, we are prone to come to contradictory theological opinions. This is true not just of the crowds in general, but of Christians as well. These contradictory opinions are not from the people who believed Jesus was a charlatan or a false prophet. It was those who believed in him who still weren’t sure just what they believed about him or who they thought he was.”¹ Simon Peter responds with who the Son of Man truly is: “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” “Christ calls all twelve, but the Father gives the answer through one of them in particular.”²

“Keep yourselves from those evil plants which Jesus Christ does not tend, because they are not the planting of the Father. Not that I have found any division among you, but exceeding purity. For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop. And as many as shall, in the exercise of repentance, return into the unity of the Church, these, too, shall belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ. Do not err, my brethren. If any man follows him that makes a schism in the Church, he shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If any one walks according to a strange opinion, he agrees not with the passion [of Christ.]. Take heed, then, to have but one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to [show forth] the unity of His blood; one altar; as there is one bishop, along with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow-servants: that so, whatsoever you do, you may do it according to [the will of] God.”

St. Ignatius, Letter to the Philadelphians 3-4 (~A.D. 108)

Thoughts on the “Rock” & Some Fishing Miracles

Let’s continue where we left off reading the passage from Matthew 16…

“…And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it….”

Matthew 16:18

This verse has been discussed countless times. There is a constant disagreement about what “rock” represents. The three main conclusions that Protestants come to: it represents Peter as a representation of the Apostles, Jesus, or Peter’s confession of faith. What seems interesting within this debate is that Protestants tend to be okay with any interpretation other than it being just Peter, even though Jesus did give him the name “Cephas”, which is translated “Peter”,³ and is Aramaic for “rock”. As I talked about in this post, names are of great significance, so we should not cast this detail aside.

I don’t plan to rehash the question of what “rock” represents, but I do want to bring forward an interesting point regarding the ongoing debate amongst Protestants: “Like the confused believers Jesus asked about, some were saying John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets (Matt. 16:14), wandering about like sheep without a shepherd. It’s in direct response to this that Jesus says he’s going to establish his Church upon Peter. Today, we see a Protestantism in which some say the rock is Christ himself, some say Peter as a representative of the Twelve, and some say Peter’s confession of faith, and the existence of this theological chaos and biblical confusion points to the continued need for Peter and his successors.”⁴

The Church has given interpretations of very few Bible verses that Catholics are bound to believe. Even within this, we are not prevented from understanding those same verses in other, non-contrary, ways, meaning that as long as we affirm the primary interpretation, and our other interpretation(s) are in harmony with Church teaching, we aren’t banned from holding the secondary (or tertiary) interpretation. In Jimmy Akin’s words: “The literal sense of this passage is that Peter is the rock on which the Church would be built. This does not preclude other metaphors for the foundation of the Church. In fact, the New Testament contains five of them. In addition to this passage, there are others in which its foundation is identified as Christ himself (1 Cor 3:11); as the apostles and New Testament prophets, with Christ as the cornerstone (Eph 2:20); Christ again as the cornerstone, together with ordinary believers as living stones (1 Pt 2:5-6); and finally the twelve apostles as a group (Rv 21:14).”⁵ On the topic of who the “rock” is, the Church does give us an answer to assent to:

Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve; Jesus entrusted a unique mission to him. Through a revelation from the Father, Peter had confessed: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Our Lord then declared to him: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” Christ, the “living Stone”, thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakable rock of the Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to strengthen his brothers in it.

- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 552

and…

The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the “rock” of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. “The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head.” This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church’s very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.

- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 881

Just as Peter brought forward the correct answer of who Jesus is, while all the other disciples got it wrong, we see the Church retains what “rock” truly means. Though I don’t like belaboring this point, I cannot help but also point to the Church Fathers who agree with the Catholic Church’s literal reading of Matthew 16:18. Here is just one of many, from St. Jerome in A.D. 376:

Yet, though your greatness terrifies me, your kindness attracts me. From the priest I demand the safe-keeping of the victim, from the shepherd the protection due to the sheep. Away with all that is overweening; let the state of Roman majesty withdraw. My words are spoken to the successor of the fisherman, to the disciple of the cross. As I follow no leader save Christ, so I communicate with none but your blessedness, that is with the chair of Peter. For this, I know, is the rock on which the church is built!⁶

Now, to address the latter part of Matthew 16:18, which says “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against [the church].” Jesus made this promise, so we should take him at His word. We should be able to see His Church stand through history, not fall into apostasy, needing to be re-created. Did Jesus give everything needed for this to happen? Yes, and it can be found in a literal reading of Matthew 16:18. Through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, God appointed one man to maintain Unity in Truth, which is what Jesus requested as He prayed to the Father in John 17:

…so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. - John 17:20-23, emphasis added

These verses are fascinating to consider with John 21:1-11…

After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. (emphasis added)

This is Jesus appearing again after the Resurrection. Notice the pieces I italicized. There were at least seven men, assuming that “Zebedee’s sons” meant two men; they all got into one boat; when all of the men together tried to pull in the net, they couldn’t; then, at Jesus’ command, Simon Peter dragged the net ashore on his own and the net did not tear. St. Gregory the Great has this to say about this event: “Why was Peter the one who brought the net to land? Our holy church had been entrusted to him.”⁷

The fact that the net was not torn is even more significant when contrasting it with Luke 5:3-6…

Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.

Both of these circumstances where a great number of fish were caught are miracles, which can be understood as “living parables”.⁸ If we see the two living parables I have brought forward as being representative of the Church, and “[i]f we are the fish, and the kingdom is the net, Peter is given a unique role in leading that net toward the shore, to ensure it doesn’t tear. The Greek word used here for ‘torn’ is from schisma, where we get our word schism. Peter’s role is to bring the Church to the eternal shore without letting it rupture through schism.”⁹ This image is exactly what Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:20-23, where he prayed that we would all be one.

“The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven”

The passage in Matthew 16 continues as follows:

“…I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

Matthew 16:19-20

Mention of “the keys” in Matthew 16:19 is often connected to mention of the “key of the house of David” in Isaiah 22:22. Here is that full passage:

On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, gird him with your sash, confer on him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one will shut, what he shuts, no one will open. - Isaiah 22:20-22

Pope Benedict XVI talked about these passages during a Homily he gave on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul in 2012:

Let us move on now to the symbol of the keys, which we heard about in the Gospel. It echoes the oracle of the prophet Isaiah concerning the steward Eliakim, of whom it was said: “And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Is 22:22). The key represents authority over the house of David. And in the Gospel there is another saying of Jesus addressed to the scribes and the Pharisees, whom the Lord reproaches for shutting off the kingdom of heaven from people (cf. Mt 23:13). This saying also helps us to understand the promise made to Peter: to him, inasmuch as he is the faithful steward of Christ’s message, it belongs to open the gate of the Kingdom of Heaven, and to judge whether to admit or to refuse (cf. Rev 3:7). Hence the two images – that of the keys and that of binding and loosing – express similar meanings which reinforce one another. The expression “binding and loosing” forms part of rabbinical language and refers on the one hand to doctrinal decisions, and on the other hand to disciplinary power, that is, the faculty to impose and to lift excommunication. The parallelism “on earth ... in the heavens” guarantees that Peter’s decisions in the exercise of this ecclesial function are valid in the eyes of God.¹⁰

It is important to remember that just as Hezekiah was still king while Eliakim had “the key of the house of David”, Jesus is still king even though he has given the keys to Peter.¹¹ Eliakim acted as the steward of the king, “who ran the royal household when the king was away, and even acted as the king’s representative with the king’s authority. When a king died and the throne was vacant, the royal steward kept the lights on, so to speak, and functioned as a kind of viceroy. If the steward died before a new king was crowned, the keys— that is, the authority of the office—were passed on to a successor, and the office continued until the throne was no longer vacant. In the Church, the apostles (and then their successors, the bishops) are the stewards of the kingdom on earth until the king returns.”¹² (This post on Catholic Answers dives into this further.)

“The Rock and the Stumbling Block”

We are finally on the last three verses from the passage Matthew 16 that I am addressing in this post:

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”

He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

- Matthew 16:21-23

These are important because they highlight a very important truth: Peter, nor his successors, are perfect. They are still fallible humans, despite the special call given to them by God. “When Peter proclaims Jesus as the Christ, it’s because Peter has been led into this by the Father; when he starts trying to tell Jesus how to conduct his ministry, it’s because he is thinking as a man rather than being on the side of God.”¹³ I think it is pertinent to reflect on the following, as well: “Several times in history, the papacy has endured seemingly despite the pope. We might want a papacy in which every pope is sinless, or at least a future saint. But the papacy was founded by Jesus, who once said of his handpicked apostles, ‘Did I not choose you, the Twelve, and one of you is a devil?’ (John 6:70)”.¹⁴

Rather than falling into despair over the personal sins of our Pope, we can remember Jesus’ promise that “the gates of hell shall not prevail” and Matthew 16:23, where it is shown that the Pope will mess up sometimes. God is also just! From Scripture, we know that “[e]veryone to whom much is given, of him will much be required”.¹⁵ Jesus held Peter to a higher standard than the other Apostles. We can see this when only Peter gets rebuked in the Garden of Gethsemane for falling asleep (Matthew 26:40 and Mark 14:37).¹⁶ We can pray for the Pope, and we can trust that God will hold Him to a just standard, according to his office.

Concluding Thoughts

Today, confusion abounds. Jesus established a hierarchical Church to be a guiding light that illuminates Truth.

The name “Peter” means “rock”. In Matthew 16:18, “rock” could have many meanings, but first and foremost, it should be understood as being Peter.

Jesus gave Peter “the keys to the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 16:19). The keys represent authority.

The Pope allows us to have Unity¹⁷ in Truth, not one despite the other.

The Pope will sin. When the Holy Father sins, it does not disprove the Papacy. He is human. Despite this, Jesus promised that “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against” (Matthew 16:18) the Church.

“Since therefore I have, in the persons before mentioned, beheld the whole multitude of you in faith and love, I exhort you to study to do all things with a divine harmony, while your bishop presides in the place of God, and your presbyters in the place of the assembly of the apostles, along with your deacons, who are most dear to me, and are entrusted with the ministry of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father before the beginning of time, and in the end was revealed. Do all then, imitating the same divine conduct, pay respect to one another, and let no one look upon his neighbour after the flesh, but continually love each other in Jesus Christ. Let nothing exist among you that may divide you; but be united with your bishop, and those that preside over you, as a type and evidence of your immortality.”

St. Ignatius, Letter to the Magnesians 7 (~A.D. 108)

Thank you for reading! Consider checking out some of the sources I linked in the footnotes to continue learning.

If you have topics you would like me to write on, feel free to reach out and I will see what I can do!

1. Pope Peter by Joe Heschmeyer, page 159

2. Ibid.

3. John 1:42

4. Pope Peter by Joe Heschmeyer, page 142

5. The Fathers Know Best by Jimmy Akin, page 189

6. Letters 15:2

7. Forty Homilies Homily 24

8. Joe Heschmeyer uses this term in Pope Peter

9. Pope Peter by Joe Heschmeyer, page 115

10. 29 June 2012: Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul - Holy Mass and imposition of the Pallium on Metropolitan Archbishops | BENEDICT XVI

11. This article on Catholic Answers dives into this a little more

12. Handed Down by James L. Papandrea, pgs. 13-14

13. Ibid., page 165

14. St. Peter: Rock or Stumbling-Stone? | Catholic Answers Magazine

15. Luke 12:48

16. cf. Pope Peter by Joe Heschmeyer, page 72

17. This is not to dismiss actual disagreements amongst Catholics , which exist, but only in a certain capacity. There are certain things the Church has not taught definitively that Catholic theologians debate. However, all Catholics are united by what the Church has taught. (Examples: Contraception? Always immoral. Sex outside of marriage? Always immoral. IVF? Always immoral. Etc.) Additionally, we are united through the Eucharist, which we believe is truly Jesus. “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17) To partake in the Eucharist is to become the Body of Christ.