When Jesus called Peter the rock upon which he would build his church – or was it pebble? - he might have had in mind the parable of the mustard seed

In chapter 16 of the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Jesus tells Peter: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church."  The Roman Catholic Church has used this verse as support for its claim of papal supremacy. Protestants dispute the claim, in part on grounds that the word translated as “rock” might actually have meant “pebble”:

… In the original Greek the word translated as "Peter" is Πέτρος (Petros) and that translated as "rock" is πέτρα (petra), two words that, while not identical, give an impression of one of many times when Jesus used a play on words. … The traditional Catholic interpretation has therefore been that Jesus told Peter (Rock) that he would build his Church on this Peter (Rock).

… Some Protestant scholars disagree with this interpretation on the basis of the difference between the Greek words. In classical Attic Greek petros generally meant "pebble," while petra meant "boulder" or "cliff." Accordingly, taking Peter's name to mean "pebble," they argue that the "rock" in question cannot have been Peter, but something else, either Jesus himself, or the faith in Jesus that Peter had just professed. …

Wikipedia, Saint Peter (accessed Mar. 25, 2009; emphasis added). 

Suppose that the author of the Greek text fully intended to use the term pebble and not rock. That would have Jesus saying, “upon this pebble I will build my church.”

When I read this, it immediately brought to mind the parable of the mustard seed in Matt. 13.31-32: "Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree ...."  And then in Matt. 17.20, Jesus tells his disciples, “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

So maybe Jesus fully intended to call Peter a pebble, not a rock, and to declare that just as a tiny mustard seed grows into a tree, on such a pebble would his church be built.

Comments

[rick allen]

Of course, maybe.

But maybe it's just the need, in Greek, for Peter to have a name in the masculine gender (i.e. with an -os ending, as opposed to the feminine -a).

We see even in the Greek New Testament the Aramaic "Kephas" used for "Peter."

If, in fact, Jesus spoke this saying in Aramaic originally, and if the Peshitta is an accurate rendition of it (I am no scholar, and don't doubt the consensus that the Peshitta is a translation from the Greek, so, two big "ifs"), then your distinction disappears with "You are khe'pha', and upon this khe'pha' I will build my church," the form of the saying in the Peshitta, with "petros" and "petra" being literally identical in the Aramaic.

[Joy Owens]

Peter was called the " rock" because God the Father gave p
Peter the knowledge of whom Jesus was.
Jesus knew that it would be one of the 12 that would lead His church and it was revealed to Jesus by His heavenly Father that it would be Peter. Peter is a replica of mankind. We are hasty in claiming our love for God but in time of persecution we flake away. But the difference here with Peter was his immediate response to the cock crowing.
Peter cried in repentance and was forgiving.
Protestants are so eager to contradict the catholic church that they are willing to change and interpret Jesus words to His disciples.
The word Kephas is stone, rock or if you are bent on the use of pebbles so be it. Paul referred to Peter as kephas 14 yrs before meeting him. We know by Pauls' writings that the gospel he was preaching was that same gospel that kephas was preaching.
If Peter was not the "rock " as Jesus called him; then why in Acts do we see Peter taking leadership charge in the development of Jesus church?
We must be careful of contradicting the universality of Jesus teachings justification is not granted thru human precepts but in the words of Jesus.
Written by a born SDA.