15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.”
Beth Moore, Believing God
On this Rock
Though Christ would build His church on the foundation of the apostles' testimonies but was it understood to mean that Christ would build His entire church on this star pupil alone?
Consider 1 Corinthians 3:11 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
The Greek word used for Peter is Petros usually meaning "a stone, a piece or fragment" of a bigger bolder.
The Greek word used for the "rock" upon which Christ would build His church is Petra, usually meaning "a massive rock or cliff."
Is it possible Christ was pointing to Himself as the massive rock upon which He'd build His Chruch and Peter as teh chip off the Block whose testimony of Christ would pour the foundation for many?
Keys to the Kingdom
I'm not exactly sure what Christ meant, but clearly Peter was assigned tremendous position and responsibility in the kingdom. There is no mistaking, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 16:19)
In ancient Eastern customs, the master of king over an estate gave keys to his possessions to a trusted steward to dispense those possessions according to his master's wishes. See the story of Joseph as an example. Pharaoh gave him a set of keys, so to speak, to dispense kingdom provisions (like grain) according to his master's wishes.
According to Allen Parr, (126) Christians…STOP BINDING AND LOOSING! It Doesn't Mean What You THINK It Means! - YouTube
A key is nothing more than something that opens a door. Most scholars believe that when Jesus said, "I'm going to give you the keys to the kingdom" He was telling Peter I'm going to give you the authority through your preaching of the gospel to open up the doors of the kingdom to those who need to know Christ. [This sheds light on the fact that Peter and Paul, and the other disciples, would be used to share the gospel with Gentiles which was debated as being allowed.]
For comments on "Binding and Loosing" See this post=> Binding and Losing (Matthew 16 & 18) - Study Scripture (weebly.com)