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Protestant Christians are uncomfortable with the idea that the pope is the successor of St. Peter.
They’re also uncomfortable with the idea that Jesus gave Peter authority as the leader of the Twelve apostles.
They’re sometimes fine with the idea that Peter was the leader of the Twelve—informally—but not with the idea that Jesus gave him the role of being the Twelve’s formal leader.
In this episode, Jimmy Akin reveals that Jesus actually gave Peter a unique role as the formal leader of the Twelve in THREE of the four Gospels.
And he reveals the surprising but logical reason why the remaining Gospel doesn’t have such a passage, even GIVEN that Peter was the leader.
TRANSCRIPT:
Coming Up
It’s obvious that St. Peter has a prominent role in the Gospels.
That’s really, really obvious.
Peter is mentioned by name almost 200 times, which is more than the other 11 apostles put together!
He’s one of the core disciples that Jesus took with him to certain events.
He also frequently serves as the spokesman of the twelve.
And even many Protestants are happy to acknowledge that he’s the leader of the group—at least in an informal sense.
But that’s as far as they’re willing to go.
They’re not willing to say that Jesus gave Peter a formal leadership role—the kind of thing that would let you describe him as the first pope.
So what’s the truth in this area?
I’m going to share with you some things that almost nobody realizes.
Let’s get into it!
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Howdy, folks!
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Matthew’s Gospel
To show someone that Peter was not just informally the leader of the Twelve but that he also had a formal leadership role, many want to see a passage where Jesus grants Peter a leadership role that he does not give to the other members of the Twelve.
This has focused a lot of attention on the famous passage in Matthew 16, where this happens:
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ (Matthew 16:13-20).
In the Protestant community, the interpretation of this passage has been mixed.
Historically, many Protestant authors have argued that Jesus is not declaring that Peter is the rock on which he will build his Church.
Instead, that rock is something else, such as Jesus himself—or Peter’s faith—or the fact Jesus is the Messiah—or something.
More recently—as the passions of the Reformation era have cooled and people have taken a more objective look at the passage—other Protestant authors have begun to concede that Jesus is, indeed, declaring Peter to be the rock.
In Episode 36 of The Jimmy Akin Podcast, we saw that these interpreters are correct. There are compelling structural features in the text that demand that Peter be the rock, and this led to my own conversion to the Catholic understanding of the Christian faith.
In Episode 37 of The Jimmy Akin Podcast, we also looked at other passages in the New Testament that speak of the foundation of Jesus’ Church, and we saw that they each use a different metaphor.
One consequence of that is that you can’t take the metaphor used in one passage and cram it into Matthew 16. Taking each passage and each metaphor on its own terms, you have to let Peter be the rock if you want to be faithful to the text.
And an increasing number of Protestant authors are doing just that.
However, they still draw a line at the idea that Peter had a formal leadership role.
So what might convince them?
I mean, right here in Matthew we have a passage where Jesus is giving him such a role. I mean, Jesus says he’s going to build his Church on Peter in particular.
And—despite the metaphor—Jesus isn’t expecting Peter to do nothing and just lay there like an inanimate stone. He clearly expects Peter to do something or have something that makes him the foundation of the Church.
That implies Peter is going to have a unique leadership role among the Twelve, and Jesus is giving him this role.
So what more do you want to show this?
If you think about it objectively, this passage ought to be enough.
But what’s enough is also subjective. What’s enough for one person may not be enough be enough for another.
Some Protestants might say, “I agree that this passage is promising for the view that Jesus gave Peter a unique leadership role, but if that’s really what he did, I’d like to see it reflected in other passages.”
I’d respond that if any passage of Scripture reveals something to be true, then that passage is enough.
We don’t reject other teachings of Jesus because they don’t have what scholars refer to as Multiple Attestation—or appearances in different sources.
In fact, insisting on multiple attestation is a characteristic of liberal biblical exegesis that is often used to cast doubt on and reject sayings of Jesus that appear only in one Gospel.
For example, we don’t reject the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats just because it’s only found in Matthew 25:31-45, and we don’t reject the Parable of the Prodigal Son just because it’s only found in Luke 15:11-32.
But—as I’ve heard someone once said—if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. So, let’s go the extra mile on this issue.
We’ve seen that the Gospel of Matthew contains a passage where Jesus gives Peter a unique leadership role among the Twelve.
So let’s see what we find when we turn to the other Gospels.
The Gospel of Luke
In Luke 22—on the night of the Last Supper—we find a very interesting passage.
Just after Jesus predicts his coming betrayal, something interesting happens among the Twelve. We read:
A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest (Luke 22:24).
Interestingly, this is something that tends to happen in the Gospels when Jesus predicts his coming betrayal and death. For example, if you look at Mark 9:30-35, Jesus predicts his coming death, and then the disciples start discussing who among them is the greatest.
The same thing happens the next chapter, in Mark 10:33-41. Jesus again predicts his death, and immediately James and John approach him and ask for the positions at his right and left hands.
It’s like when Jesus starts speaking about the period after his earthly ministry, the disciples start jockeying for position in what comes after.
So what happens when they do that in Luke 22?
Well, Jesus makes three statements in response. These three statements are all part of one, uninterrupted speech that he makes. And each of the three statements addresses the same topic.
Unfortunately, some Bible translations obscure this by inserting subheads into the middle of the speech Jesus makes, but it’s really all the same speech and on the same topic.
So what’s the first thing that Jesus says in response to the disciples’ dispute about who is the greatest of them?
And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves” (Luke 22:25-27).
Here Jesus teaches the disciples the principle of servant leadership. They have just been arguing about which of them is the greatest, and Jesus tells them let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the one who serves. So don’t lord it over people if you’re a leader. Instead, adopt the position of a servant and try to serve them.
Jesus even applies that principle to himself, noting that he is among the disciples as one who serves, and he’s teaching them to follow that same pattern after he is gone.
That’s one of the reasons why in later centuries the popes have adopted “Servant of the Servants of God” as one of their titles.
In any event, the first thing Jesus says in response to the disciples’ dispute is that they need to change their way of thinking and adopt an attitude of service toward others.
But Jesus is not yet done. So what’s the second thing he says in response to their dispute? We read:
“You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:28-30).
Here Jesus gives all of the disciples a reassurance. Having explained the principle of servant leadership, he now assures them that they will all have a prominent place in his kingdom.
He says that they will eat and drink at his table, and he says that they will sit on thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
Note that he doesn’t say “twelve thrones,” likely because he knows Judas is going to betray him, but he’s speaking to the group in general, without mentioning Judas specifically, and he assures them that they will all have important positions in his kingdom.
But there is still one more thing that Jesus has to say in response to the disciples’ dispute about which of them is the greatest.
He now turns directly to Simon Peter and says:
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32).
Now, there’s something to be aware of in this passage that is not obvious in most English translations.
Standard contemporary English is odd in that it does not have a distinct form for a plural second person pronoun. That’s why—today—people can use the word “you” to refer to a single person—or they can use it to refer to a group of people. Since “you” can be either singular or plural, this causes confusion.
“You are invited to my party” can either mean one person is invited or that a whole group of people are invited, and context doesn’t always make it clear which is intended.
That’s why—here in the South—we use “y’all” as the plural second person pronoun, and this is now becoming standard in American English. So, nice to see other folks catching up.
Well, English is unusual among languages that have the plural number in their grammar, and most language have always had distinct singular and plural forms of you. Among them are the biblical languages Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
And it’s really obvious when you’re reading the Greek New Testament whether Jesus is saying you—singular—or y’all—plural. For example, if you read Luke’s version of the beatitudes, Jesus says:
Blessed are the poor, because y’all’s is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are those who are hungry now, because y’all will be satisfied.
Blessed are those who weep now, because y’all will laugh (Luke 6:20-21).
Unfortunately, most Bible translations aren’t up to speed yet, and so they tend to just use “you,” and this obscures important things.
If we correct for this, we find that what Jesus actually says in his statement to Peter is this:
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have y’all, that he might sift y’all like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32).
Notice the shift between y’all and you. Jesus says that Satan has demanded to have the disciples as a group so that he could sift them like wheat.
But Jesus has prayed for Simon specifically so that his faith might not fail, and he says that when Simon has turned back, he is to strengthen his brothers.
So here we see Jesus—once again—giving Peter a special leadership role among the Twelve.
Jesus has prayed for Peter’s faith specifically, and he instructs him to strengthen the other members of the Twelve in the aftermath of Jesus’ coming arrest. This is another instance of Jesus giving Peter a unique leadership role among the Twelve.
We thus see how Jesus handles the situation when the dispute breaks out at the Last Supper.
First, Jesus establishes the general principle that applies to being great in the Christian community: The leader must be the servant of the others.
Second he gives the Twelve disciples his assurance as a group that they will all have important places in his kingdom.
And third, he turns to Peter and singles him out for a special leadership role, telling him to strengthen his brothers.
Note that this applies the general principle that Jesus began his response with. By strengthening his brothers, Peter is to help them. He is to be their servant.
Thus—rather than lording it over the others—Peter is to be a servant leader.
And this is Jesus’ answer to the question of which of the disciples is to be regarded as the greatest. It’s Peter, and this is to be revealed by how Peter serves the others. He is to be the servant of the servants of God.
Jesus thus indicates that Peter is the unique leader of the disciples.
And so we see that the Gospel of Luke—like the Gospel of Matthew—contains a passage in which Jesus gives Peter a unique leadership role among the Twelve.
The Gospel of John
Now let’s turn to the Gospel of John and see what Jesus has to say in it.
The Gospel of John is interesting, because John is deliberately filling in details that aren’t contained in the other 3 or Synoptic Gospels.
For example, in his discussion of Peter’s 3 denials of Jesus in the high priest’s courtyard, John mentions that the beloved disciple who wrote the Gospel was personally known to the high priest and his household, and he—the beloved disciple—had to intervene to get Peter admitted to the courtyard where the denials happened.
You can read about that in John 18:15-16 for more information.
We then have the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and how—afterward—Peter went fishing on the Sea of Galilee.
When they finish fishing, Jesus meets them on the shore, and they have a breakfast of some of the fish they caught. Here John is expanding on how Luke 24:42 mentions that Jesus ate a piece of broiled fish in front of the disciples.
Now we read this:
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17).
Here we have a set of three sets of three statements each. First, in each block of text, Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. Second, Peter responds by saying that he does. And third, Jesus tells Peter to feed his sheep.
This happens three times.
The three times obviously mirror the three denials that Peter made of Jesus before the Crucifixion. So—having been denied by Peter three times—Jesus is now having Peter reaffirm his love for him three times.
Some have tried to dismiss the significance of this passage by saying that Jesus is just restoring Peter after his three denials, and I think that’s true. Jesus wouldn’t have asked Peter if he loved him three times if Peter hadn’t denied Jesus three times.
There wouldn’t be any reason to question whether Peter really loved Jesus if Peter hadn’t denied him.
So I have no problem saying that this incident is prompted by Peter’s three denials and that Jesus is restoring Peter to his position as a result.
But note what position he is being restored to!
Following each reaffirmation of love, Jesus tells Peter to feed his sheep, which indicates that he has a pastoral role—obviously so, since the Latin word for shepherd is Pastor, so a shepherd of sheep has a pastoral role.
But which sheep is to Peter serve as the pastor of?
Jesus says “my sheep,” and he doesn’t put any restrictions on that. So Jesus is commissioning Peter to shepherd his entire flock—the whole Church.
Now, you might wonder whether this is a responsibility that was shared by the other disciples, but the passage also answers this question for us.
Notice that the first time Jesus asks Peter if he loves him, he says something significant “Do you love me more than these?”
Now, we’ve already been told in John 21:2 that this fishing expedition is a group affair, and Peter has a group of the other disciples with him.
So Jesus is asking Peter if he loves him more than these other disciples do, and that puts the other disciples within the scope of those being considered.
Peter is thus being singled out among the disciples, indicating Peter’s uniqueness and thus the uniqueness of his role.
Between “Do you love me more than these?” and the command to feed my lambs, that also suggests that the other disciples are among the lambs that Jesus expects Peter to feed.
Just like in Luke 22:32, Jesus told Peter to strengthen your brothers.
So we see that John—like Matthew and Luke—contains a passage in which Jesus singles out Peter for a unique leadership role among the disciples.
The Gospel of Mark?
We’ve now been through three of the four Gospels and seen that each one contains a passage in which Jesus gives Peter a special leadership commission. But what about Mark?
Well, in fact, Mark does not contain such a passage. It is the only one of the four Gospels that doesn’t.
It does contain information indicating Peter’s leadership role—at least informally. Peter is still the most prominent of the Twelve in Mark’s Gospel. But it does not have a passage in which Jesus formally invests Peter with leadership authority.
Why would that be?
This question has a very interesting answer, and to understand it, we need to look at what else we know about the Gospel of Mark and how it came to be written.
In the early second century, there was an author named Papias who wrote a 5-volume work about Jesus. In composing his work, Papias interviewed people who had been eyewitnesses of Jesus’ ministry, and one of them was a first century figure known as John the Elder or John the Presbyter—apparently different from John the Apostle.
John the Presbyter is an interesting figure who we can talk more about in future episodes, but he was an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry. He also may have been one of the authors of the New Testament.
And it is from this early eyewitness—who was closely plugged in to the apostles and the New Testament authors—that we get our earliest evidence about the Gospel of Mark.
John the Elder says:
When Mark became Peter’s interpreter, he wrote down accurately, although not in order, all that he remembered of what was said or done by the Lord.
For he had not heard the Lord nor followed him, but later, as I have said, he did Peter, who made his teaching fit his needs without, as it were, making any arrangement of the Lord’s oracles, so that Mark made no mistake in thus writing some things down as he remembered them.
For to one thing he gave careful attention, to omit nothing of what he heard and to falsify nothing in this (John the Presbyter, in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3:39).
So according to our earliest information, Mark became Peter’s interpreter, and he based his Gospel on what he remembered of Peter’s preaching.
So if the Gospel of Mark reflects Peter’s preaching, can you think of any reason why Peter wouldn’t preach about how Jesus gave him a special leadership role among the Twelve?
How about what we just heard Jesus say in Luke 22 about the fundamental principle of Christian leadership:
The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves (Luke 22:25-27).
So Peter took Jesus’ instructions to heart. As the leader of the earthly Church after Jesus returned to heaven, Peter acted as one who serves. He took the same role as servant of others that Jesus himself had taken.
And so—in his own preaching—Peter did not stress how Jesus had given him special authority among the Twelve.
He let other people tell those stories, but he didn’t stress them himself. I’m not saying that he never mentioned them. He may well have needed to mention them on occasion.
But—given the leadership principles that Jesus taught—it would only be natural for the highest leader in Jesus’ Church to not stress the stories in which Jesus—repeatedly—indicated that he was the unique leader of the Church.
And this only goes along with common sense. The more leaders harp on their own authority, the less people respect them. Anyone who constantly goes around saying, “Respect my authoritai!” is actually undermining his own position.
I mean, how well do you think it would have gone for Peter if he acted like this?
CARTMAN: Respect my authoritai! (Bludgeons nearby people)
So it only makes sense that Peter would not emphasize these accounts in his own preaching, and thus that the Gospel that’s directly based on Peter’s preaching would not contain such an account.
Conclusion
We’ve now gone the extra mile. Even one passage would be sufficient to indicate that Jesus gave Peter a unique role as the leader of the Church—since anything the Bible reveals in even one passage is guaranteed to be true and we do not need multiple attestation.
But we’ve nevertheless seen that the New Testament indicates that Jesus repeatedly stressed the unique leadership role Peter had.
- In Matthew 16, Jesus said he would build his Church on Peter
- In Luke 22, Jesus settled a dispute about who was the greatest of the Twelve by stressing the principle of servant leadership, reassuring the Twelve that they would all have prominent places in his kingdom, and then singling out Peter and telling him to act as a servant leader and strengthen his brother apostles.
- And in John 21, Jesus restored Peter after his denials to his position as shepherd of the Lord’s entire flock, including the other disciples.
It’s only in Mark that we don’t have such a passage, and the reason for this is clear. Peter took Jesus’ servant leadership principle to heart, and in his own preaching he did not stress the authority that Jesus had given him.
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If you like this content, you can help me out by liking, commenting, writing a review, sharing the podcast, and subscribing
If you’re watching on YouTube, be sure and hit the bell notification so that you always get notified when I have a new video
And you can also help me keep making this podcast—and you can get early access to new episodes—by going to Patreon.com/JimmyAkinPodcast
Thank you, and I’ll see you next time
God bless you always!