"AND I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." What is that rock? The Catholics claim that it was Peter, and that their church is built upon him. In verse 16 we read Peter's sublime response to the question which Jesus had put to the disciples, "Whom say ye that I am?" To this Peter replied, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus immediately pronounced a blessing upon him for his discreet answer, and assured him that it was God alone, his Heavenly Father, who had revealed it, that is, this great and sublime truth, unto him. Then Jesus further said, "And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter [Petros, which also means a stone, implying a detached, small, isolated stone], and upon this rock [not Petros, a small stone, but Petra, a massive solid ledge], I will build my church." The subject under consideration was the great truth that Peter had uttered: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." This had called down upon him the blessing. This had been called a direct revelation from God. Peter's name was Petros, a stone, but he had uttered a truth which was a great Petra, ledge or rock, and upon this Petra, said Christ, I will build my church. So the rock was not Peter, but the confession which Peter had made that Christ was the Son of the living God. The truth is the grand foundation of the church. That is the rock upon which it is built. Then was given to him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that is, a commission to open to the world the truths of the gospel, so guided in the work by the Holy Spirit that his decisions (the whole church being also included, as stated in other scriptures, see Matt. 18: 17, 18), should be in accordance with the will of heaven.—Bible Echo.