There are several ways to understand Jesus’ words to Peter in Matthew’s Gospel,
“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
Jesus to Peter, Matthew 16:19 (NRSV)
The way Peter wrote about it revealed his own interpretation: believers are to see themselves as ones hewn from God, as living rock with a special unity, built upon the Cornerstone of Christ, and as a priesthood whose purpose was to serve and glorify God, remembering his own vivid experience of being named a rock of faith by Jesus.
