What do the Orthodox and Protestants share in common? They both reject the authority of the pope. As it stands today, millions of Christians around the globe do not recognize the pope as the successor of St. Peter or the visible head of the Church on earth. Unfortunately, however, such a position directly goes against all biblical evidence. In this limited space, I will highlight and analyze some key scriptural passages that either suggest or directly show that Jesus established the office of the pope on earth, and that the first pope was the apostle Peter.
Every Catholic’s go-to passage when debating the topic of the papacy is Matthew 16:18, which says “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Many Catholics, though, will just read this verse and think they’ve won the debate. After all, isn’t it obvious that Jesus is making Peter the rock of His church? Problem solved! Well, that’s not going to persuade many people from the other side. Of course, Matthew 16:18 does indeed point to the divine institution of the papacy, but we’re going to need to look deeper at the surrounding context of Christ’s words.
First, let’s set the scene: Jesus and the twelve apostles are at Caesarea Philippi, and Jesus asks them who other people say that He is. “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus asks the question “But who do you say I am?” That’s when Peter, who up to that point was named Simon, answered “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” At this, Jesus proclaims Simon as blessed, and He changes his name: “You are Peter…”
Now, name changes in the Bible are very significant. It symbolizes a new role or position the person will assume. But why did Jesus choose Peter of all names? Well, the name Peter is derived from the Greek word petra, which is the word for “rock.” Therefore, by naming him “Rock,” Jesus is telling Simon that he is the rock, or foundation, of His Church. At this point, many Catholics will think that this automatically proves that Peter was the rock of the Church.
“Not so fast,” a smart non-Catholic might say. “In the original Greek, Jesus calls Peter Petros, but he refers to the rock on which He will build His Church as petra. Now Petros and petra are two totally different words. Petros refers to a large rock in ancient Greek, while petra refers to a little pebble. Therefore, perhaps Jesus meant something else, but what you definitely can’t say that Peter is the rock of the church!”
There are two interrelated responses to this: First of all, we need to recognize that petra was a feminine noun in ancient Greek, and so Jesus wouldn’t bestow a feminine name onto Simon! This is why, in the original Greek, the author of Matthew changed the ending of the word into a masculine form: “You are Petros, and upon this petra I will build my church.” Notice how petra is masculinized by switching the -a to an -os. Thus, we can know that Jesus intended for Peter to be the rock (petra) of His church, because He literally named Simon “Rock” and only changed the ending of the word in order for it to become the name of a male person.
However, we don't necessarily have to wander down that path of argumentation. The second response is that Jesus simply wasn't speaking Greek in this scene. He was speaking Aramaic, and we have a clue to this when He refers to Simon Peter as “Simon bar Jona” in verse 17. “Bar” is an Aramaic word, not a Greek one, meaning “son of.” The word for rock in Aramaic is “kepha.” So Jesus would have actually said “You are Kepha, and upon this kepha, I will build my church.” There is no change in endings for kepha in Aramaic. Thus, because of Jesus' speaking Aramaic in this context, we can be more confident that He made Peter the rock, and upon this rock, He would build His church. Peter’s new role was the rock of the church, its visible head, and his name change demonstrates this clearly.
We can also look at the next verse for more clues that suggest the papacy: “I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.” In ancient Israel, the king was in charge, and his second-in-command would possess the keys to the city gates and preside over the land when the king was away. In these instances, the second-in-command had the authority to open and close the gates, allowing some people in and rejecting others. This historical context casts Jesus’ words in a very interesting light: Jesus is communicating to Peter that he is the second-in-command of the church. When Christ ascended into heaven, He did not leave us orphans. Like the king who left the city, the second-in-command was left in charge. As such, while Christ is the invisible head of the church, Peter is the visible head. This also helps explain why Jesus gives Peter the authority to bind and loose. As Catholic Answers puts it, “It refers to the authority to make decisions binding on the people of God.” This makes sense when seen from the viewpoint of Peter as the holder of the keys to the kingdom of God. If he is Jesus’ second-in-command, he has authority given from above, and this would necessarily include the issuing of decrees that are binding on the faithful.
Matthew 16 isn't the only biblical evidence for the papacy. Let's look at one more verse: Luke 22:31-32. Here, Jesus warns Peter that he will deny Him three times. He tells Peter that "Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail." Why did Jesus pray specifically for Peter's faith? Well, in the next line, Jesus continues: "and once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." So after the apostles scatter on account of Christ's trial and death, Peter is supposed to be the one to strengthen and reaffirm them in the faith. While the rest of the apostles possess teaching authority, Peter is the one who holds them together when they begin to fall apart. But all of the apostles, except John, ran away during the crucifixion; why wasn't John chosen as the one to strengthen his brothers, or another apostle?
To answer this question, we need to read a few verses prior, where the apostles are engaged in a debate over who among them is the greatest. In reply, Jesus states "Let the greatest among you be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant." Thus, the greatest among the apostles is the one who serves. Now we can start to see what this means for Peter's role as his brothers' strengthener in the faith. Peter is called to be the greatest among the apostles, as he is the greatest servant, the one who serves something much greater than corporal deeds. He must serve by inculcating the faith in the other apostles. This is exactly the role that the pope has today! The pope is traditionally called "Servus Servorum Dei," or the "Servant of the Servants of God," highlighting his primacy above his brother bishops. Although the bishops are great servants (since they do indeed teach the faith), the pope is the one who grounds and strengthens the faith, preventing the faithful from wandering astray. Therefore, the true faith is found in communion with the pope, the successor of Peter, the one called to strengthen his brothers.
Hopefully, this information offers a helpful primer to those who wish to become more educated on the biblical grounds for the Catholic papacy. I hope to communicate to my non-Catholic Christian brethren that the papacy is not some medieval invention of the European church, but rather has roots dating all the way back to the New Testament. Although we looked at two key verses, there are many more. But this can at least start helping Catholics understand the reasons for their faith, as well as provide non-Catholic Christians with something to ponder about.
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