As James Akin points out in Surprised By Truth, there is a structure to Matthew 16:18:
- There are three sections, having two parts each (colored green, red, and blue below)
- The second part of each section affirms the first (light color is first section, dark color is second)
- The first and third sections clearly serve to build up and affirm Peter, thus taken in context the second (middle) section (in blue below) does as well. Otherwise we would have Christ building up and affirming Peter in section 1 (green), diminishing him in section 2 (blue), then building him up again in section 3 (red)
15
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16
Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
18
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
19
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Peter’s confession of faith in verse 16 is affirmed by Christ in verse 17, where he builds up and affirms Peter (“Blessed are you”).
Verse 18 has two parts, the first (“And so I say to you, you are Peter”) denotes Peter as being a rock. In the second (“and upon this rock I will build my church”), Christ builds up and affirms Peter.
Verse 19 has two parts, the first (“I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven“) denotes Peter’s authority. In the second (“whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven…”), Christ builds up and affirms that authority
The Aramaic already dispensed with the notion that Christ was calling Peter “little stone”, but to hammer home the point, James Akin points out how incongruous it would be within the structure of these three verses to claim verse 18 was not referring to Peter.
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