01 May, 2006
A Prayer
of Jesus
I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and
understanding  and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will
 
ON ROCK

Here are collected all utterances of Jesus that incorporate the New Testament Greek words,  petros (little rock, pebble) and petra (rock, bedrock), and its cognates.

The definitions, as given by Thayer1 are:
 
petros (pronunciation, petros) -- Peter, the proper name
signifying a stone, a rock, a ledge, or cliff.
petra (pronunciation, petra) -- a rock, ledge, cliff

The Lord's utilization of "petra" as bedrock in Matthew 7:24 indicates that in his mind there was a much larger distinction between "petra" and "petros" than Thayer's definitions suggest. 

The corresponding English words are colored in blue where it occurs in the English text below.




1. Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, by Joseph H. Thayer
Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.
P. O. Box 3473
Peabody, Massachusetts 01961-3473
First Printing, June 199

BUILDING ON THE BEDROCK

Matthew 7

[24] Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock (petra);
[25] and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock (petra).

[26] And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand;
[27] and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.
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Luke 6

[47] Every one who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:
[48] he is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock (petra); and when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
[49] But he who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.

YOU ARE PETER

Matthew 16

[
13] Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare'a Philip'pi, he asked his disciples, Who do men say that the Son of man is?
[14] And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli'jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
[15] He said to them, But who do you say that I am?
[16] Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
[17] And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
[18] And I tell you, you are Peter (petros), and on this rock (petra) I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.
[19] 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.
[20] Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Mark 8

[27] And Jesus went on with his disciples, to the villages of Caesare'a Philip'pi; and on the way he asked his disciples, Who do men say that I am?
[28] And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Eli'jah; and others one of the prophets."
[29] And he asked them, But who do you say that I am?
Peter answered him, "You are the Christ."



















[
30] And he charged them to tell no one about him.
Luke 9

[
18] Now it happened that as he was praying alone the disciples were with him; and he asked them, Who do the people say that I am?
[19] And they answered, "John the Baptist; but others say, Eli'jah; and others, that one of the old prophets has risen."
[20] And he said to them, But who do you say that I am?
And Peter answered, "The Christ of God."



















[
21] But he charged and commanded them to tell this to no one,

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

Matthew 13

[1] That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.
[2] And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach.
[3] And he told them many things in parables, saying:
A sower went out to sow.


[4] And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.
[5] Other seeds fell on rocky ground (petrodes), where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil,
[6] but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away.
[7] Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.

[8] Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.


[9] He who has ears, let him hear.     
Mark 4

[1] Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.
[2] And he taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:
[3] Listen! A sower went out to sow.
[4] And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

[5] Other seed fell on rocky ground (petrodes), where it had not much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil;
[6] and when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away.
[7] Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.
[8] And other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
[9] And he said, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Luke 8

[4] And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable:






[5] A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it.

[6] And some fell on the rock (petra); and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.




[7] And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it.

[8] And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.



As he said this, he called out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

INTERPRETATION OF THE SOWER

Matthew 13

[18] Hear then the parable of the sower.


[19] When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path.

[20] As for what was sown on rocky ground (petrodes), this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
[21] yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
[22] As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.


[23] As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
Mark 4

[13] And he said to them, Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
[14] The sower sows the word.
[15] And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown; when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which is sown in them.
[16] And these in like manner are the ones sown upon rocky ground (petrodes), who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy;
[17] and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
[18] And others are the ones sown among thorns; they are those who hear the word,
[19] but the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
[20] But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
Luke 8

[11] Now the parable is this:



The seed is the word of God.

[12] The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved.
[13] And the ones on the rock (petra) are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy;

but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.




[14] And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

[15] And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.

PETER'S DENIAL FORETOLD

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Luke 22

[31] Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
[32] but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.
[33] And he said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."
[34] He said, I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you three times deny that you know me.

FROM THE FOURTH GOSPEL



It is very interesting to note that there is no incident in the Fourth Gospel where the Lord addresses Peter as "Peter," and only one in the synoptics, at Luke 22:34 (above).  Nor do we find him speaking the Greek, petra, in the Fourth Gospel.  Although the Lord  named him "Peter" (petros), in Matthew 16:18, he continued to address him as "Simon."  With the one exception of Luke 22:34.
 

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