Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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The second significant statement of Jesus in from Matthew 16 is one whose meaning has eluded many for two thousand years and provoked a thousand debates. This is what Jesus said: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my congregation . . ."
Over the centuries, Catholic Christians have contended that these words imply that Peter was ordained by God to be the first Pope. This is ludicrous, and no one with any understanding of the New Testament accepts that self-serving interpretation of the Master's words by Catholic scholars. One obvious problem with that doctrine is that Paul, not Peter, was sent with the gospel for the Gentiles (Gal. 2:7-8). Peter was sent to the Jews with the gospel that was for them, and his gospel was superceded by Paul's. The gospel that Peter preached required the people to continue performing the ceremonies of Moses' Law, while Paul's gospel for the Gentiles included no ceremonies, holy days, holy places, or religious rites such as physical circumcision. It was the plan of God that Paul's gospel for the Gentiles, not Peter's for the Jews, should in time be the only gospel preached. As fewer and fewer Jews believed, the gospel for the Jews that Peter preached faded away and eventually was no more (cp. Heb. 8:13).
The basic meaning of the word "Pope" is "father", and Jesus warned his followers not to call any man "father", in a religious sense, of course (Mt. 23:9). There is no such thing as a "Pope" in God's family, except for God Himself. This is why every person with any understanding in the gospel of Christ rejects out of hand the silly notion that Jesus was ordaining Peter to be the first Pope of the Catholic religion when he said, "upon this rock will I build my congregation." If there ever was a man ordained by God to be a first "Pope" on earth, it would have been Paul, not Peter. Since the Catholic religion includes numerous ceremonies and holy days, Catholics are hardly able to distinguish between Paul's gospel and Peter's. Ceremonies deny and obscure the true liberty of Christ so that those who perform them cannot understand what it is to worship God "in spirit and in truth". Their own religion of rituals and proper form is the Catholics' greatest hindrance in understanding the way of Christ. Simply put, Catholicism is not of God.
Protestant Christians have done only a little better with their interpretation of these words of Jesus from Matthew 16. In the main, they have taught that it was Peter's confession of faith in Jesus as God's Son which is the "rock" that the saints are built upon, rather than Peter the man, as Catholics claim. Peter's confession, however, benefited Peter, just as your confession benefits you. It did Peter's soul much good to be moved by the holy Ghost to speak aloud the truth revealed to his heart by God, but as for the other apostles-and us-God must give us our own confessions. We will not be judged on Peter's testimony but our own.
In Christ, we have "access to the Father" (Eph. 2:18). In Christ, we are all "taught of God" (Heb. 8:10-11). In Christ, we are guided "into all truth" (Jn. 16:13) and are taught "all things" in God's kingdom (Jn. 14:26). And we experience these blessings only because, in Christ Jesus, we have communion with the Father. These holy blessings, these revealed truths that we receive from our heavenly Father and then confess before men are the "rock" upon which the saints of God are built.
The true family of God is built up, or edified, only by what comes from God. This is what Jesus was saying to Peter. He was telling Peter and everyone else that men have nothing to add to God, that men have nothing by which they can build up the faith of the saints, and that there is not one thought of man that can do any good in the kingdom of God. He was telling Peter that God's merciful touch alone will guide and protect and nurture the family of God on earth. Peter's confession was inspired by God, and that alone made his confession valuable. A confession by a man who is not "moved by the holy Ghost" to make it, even if that confession is factually true, cannot build up God's congregation. It is vain.
False teachers make their living by saying some true things about God and His Son. But they do not edify the saints with their speeches. They only impress the ignorant.
The only thing that blesses the congregation of the Lord is what is communicated to man from God. This is why Paul taught that only those who are led by the Spirit are children of God (Rom. 8:14). It is the living Word of God that feeds the children of God. It is God's communication to men whom He chooses that builds up the faith of His people to believe that they can-indeed must!-know God for themselves. The saints are made more Christ like by personal experiences with God through His holy Spirit. That is what the congregation of the Lord is built upon if it is built up at all. Ceremony will never accomplish that (as Catholics teach), nor will someone else's confession (as Protestants teach) build up the saints, no matter who that someone else is. Peter's confession was just like the words of the prophets and even of Jesus himself; those words were directly from God, but they benefit us only as we partake of them ourselves. And we partake of them only when, by the grace that comes through Jesus Christ, our spirits hear the Word of God with our own hearts.
What God says is a sure foundation. It is the rock of our souls. Nothing can shake it; nothing can remove it; nothing can alter it. Today and forever, it will remain. A million tomorrows hence, long after the fads and fashions of earth have been forgotten, the Word of God will still stand true and strong, and those who trusted it to guide and to protect them here will still be dwelling in safety and peace in a land of eternal peace.