15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18And 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.

19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

20Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. (KJV)

Jesus worked as a tekton or builder. He used his experience to explain that he would build his church and he would build it upon the rock of himself

Peter was not the only disciple to whom Jesus Christ gave the power to make binding decisions. In Matthew 18:18, he gave all the disciples the power to make binding decisions, but he gave none of them permission to change the law of God.

Petros v. Petra

One explanation for this scripture is simply the difference in meanings for the Greek words petra and petros. Petra means a large rock, cliff, or ledge, while petros means a rock or stone.

However, some people might argue that Jesus Christ likely spoke the words recorded in Matthew 16 in Aramaic rather than in Greek. In Aramaic, there is only one word for rock and that is kepha. The word kepha has no gender distinction just as the word rock has no gender distinction in English. In Greek, petros is of the masculine gender and petra is of the feminine gender.

Is there additional evidence that Jesus Christ, not Peter, is the rock on which Jesus Christ is building the church? Yes, there is.

No Mention of an Exalted Role for Peter

After Matthew records the statement of Jesus telling Peter that the church would be built upon a rock, Matthew never mentions anything about an exalted role for Peter. Peter greatly influenced the writing of the gospel according to Mark. And Mark never mentions anything about an exalted role for Peter either. Notice, that Jesus said that he would build his church. It was not to be the church of Peter. Peter was a bold and courageous man, but he never exalted himself. He never sought to have men bow down before him. When Cornelius saw Peter he fell down before him to worship him, but Peter lifted him up and said that he too was a man (Acts 10:25-26).