The Pope Vs. Matthew 16:18

~Brandon James Scott Scholl

Matthew 16:18 is one of the most highly debated scriptures about Roman Catholicism. I’ve heard people time and time again claim that it’s the scripture that proves that all popes are successors of the apostle Peter. However, I’ve done my own research and study and I believe I understand it.

First, let’s look at a few scriptures before verse 18 and then the one after it.

“13(Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." 15He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."17And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." ~Matthew 16:13-19 NASB

Okay, now let’s see if we can break this down a little bit.

So, Jesus is talking to the disciples and asking them questions about who people think the Messiah is. All of them explained that people thought all sorts of different people were the Messiah. Then, Christ asked them who they thought it was and Simon Peter explained that He was the Christ. At which point He explained that it wasn’t man that showed Peter this truth, but it was God.

That gives us enough context to now dive into a bit of controversy.

One of the biggest things, as I mentioned before, is the Catholic church believing that this scripture says that Christ’s church will be built upon Peter. This, to them, means that the church will be built upon the leader of all the believers and they believe that to be the pope. However, that’s not what is supported as we dig deeper into this scripture.

Now, some people would start getting upset about now because of how I differentiated “petra” and “Petros”. However, here’s an interesting fact, the same rock that Christ says He’ll build His church on is mentioned the exact same Greek word “Petra” in a few other scriptures that might help you understand what rock He was exactly referring to.

”The Rock! (Petra) His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.” ~Deuteronomy 32:4 NASB


”Do not tremble and do not be afraid;
Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?
And you are My witnesses
Is there any God besides Me,
Or is there any other Rock? (Petra)
I know of none.” ~Isaiah 44:8 NASB

There are other scriptures that are the same way. 2 Samuel 22:2-3, Psalms 18:31, Romans 9:33. When Rock is mentioned in all of these scriptures, it’s referring to God. Meaning that God is the foundation of what Jesus’ church is built on.

Now, let’s debunk a quick little response from the Catholic Church. Numerous websites that I looked over and the different things that I read from other Catholics explain that the Gospels were actually written in Aramaic originally. They claim that in the Aramaic it can be proven that Peter was meant to be the first pope and start that line. However, to this day, there was never a copy of the Gospels recovered in Aramaic. The farthest back it’s been found is Greek.

Bottom line, the scripture doesn’t support the Catholic church having a pope or using them as a leader of the church that makes decisions. The Catholic church hasn’t used proper exegesis on this section to understand what it says. So, they aren’t listening to what God is telling them to do within their church, they’re listening to a man. When that’s the setup, it’s not Christian or anything like it. And, if my memory serves me right about the Ten Commandments, we aren’t to have idols or anything else before God. If the Catholic church is using the pope as the lead, I believe that would be someone replacing God.