Why did Jesus give Peter the job of pope?

Answer 1

Jesus appointed Peter as the leader of His Church because of Peter's answer to Jesus' question Jesus asked the apostles, Who is He to them... Then Peter answered: "You are The Son of The Living God" Jesus responds that Simon is now called Peter, "and upon this rock [petra] I will build my church." Peter was just a man; as another respondent showed, albeit with much misunderstnding, Peter had, at one point, been used by Satan to tempt Jesus into avoiding His suffering death. (No, it does not mean Jesus was calling Peter "Satan," but rather Jesus was speaking to Satan, not Peter.) Peter's faith in what had been revealed to him would be the foundation of His body on earth. What power is Christ said to have bestowed on Peter? "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew xvi, 19). On this remarkable bestowal of power, which has exerted such a mighty influence in the government of the church, but of which Mark, Luke and John know nothing, Greg comments as follows: "Not only do we know Peter's utter unfitness to be the depositary of such a fearful power, from his impetuosity and instability of character, and Christ's thorough perception of this unfitness, but we find immediately after it is said to have been conferred upon him, his Lord addresses him indignantly by the epithet of Satan, and rebukes him for his presumption and unspirituality, and shortly afterwards this very man thrice denied his master. Can any one maintain it to be conceivable that Jesus should have conferred the awful power of deciding the salvation or damnation of his fellow-men upon one so frail, so faulty, and so fallible? Does any one believe that he did?" (Creed of Christendom, p. 189). Because it was the Father's will.

Answer 2

Having denied Christ 3 times and possibly thinking that he was beyond forgiveness, he soon learned about the extent of Christ's compassion.

He would never feel that he had been chosen because he was a real "goodie two shoes"

Rather than high mindedly looking after the affairs of the church and it's sheep he could now be used as a humble servant .

Jesus had earlier stated that he who has been forgiven little, loves little.

For Peter who now had been forgiven a lot, he would now love others a lot and consequently be much more compassionate in his dealings with them.

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Catholic AnswerOne thing that is *very important* to understand is that we are creatures, with a very *limited* intelligence (compared to God) and contingent being (we can be or not be depending on God's Will, there is no need for us to exist, we only exist because of God's love). When God reveals something to us, we try to understand as best we can, and some of the reasons given above are excellent, but, in the end, God does what He does because that is what He does - and we have no business questioning Him. God made Peter the head of His Church, so we accept it, and ask how we can serve Him and His Church. Peter (and his successors) tell us how to do that.

Answer 3

The first reason Jesus chose Peter was that he loved him very much. Peter had a great personality and traits. He had fire, enthusiasm, and was a real social butterfly not afraid to meet people and tell them about Jesus. He would be a great evangelist (and he was). Peter may have flub up after Jesus was arrested but so what. Jesus uses us human who know we have flaws. He does use the pharisees. Get the idea? Humility counts.

Answer 4

A:Certainly, in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus gave Peter the role of leading his Church, but if we think of the pope as the bishop of Rome, there is no suggestion that Jesus directed Peter to go to Rome. Clement of Rome, writing around 95 CE (1 Clement), spoke in general terms about the life and death of Peter but appears to have been unaware that he had even visited Rome and was certainly unaware that he had been executed in Rome. It was not until the second century that Pope Anicetus, who wished to demonstrate that he spoke with the authority of Peter, reported that Peter had been beheaded in Rome. Given the circumstances of Anicetus' claim, the evidence of Clement seems more credible, and Jesus might have expected his Church to have been led from Jerusalem, where we find the Apostle Paul reports meeting James and Peter. However, members of the Jerusalem Church are believed to have fled eastwards across the Jordan at the time of the First Roman-Jewish War, and that city ceased to be an important centre of Christian leadership. The eventual role of the bishop of Rome as leader of the Church in Western Europe was based on the claim by Anicetus to be the spiritual descendant of Peter.

Additional Answer:

There is no historical evidence that the Apostle Peter was in Rome until after the Apostle Paul's death. There was another Simon or 'Pater' in Rome though.

The Apostle Peter whom we know was for a limited time at Babylon in Mesopotamia, from which he wrote his letters to the churches in Asia Minor (1 Peter 5:13). Peter used Babylon as the major city for those Apostles doing their work in the east. When you look at the list of cities Peter mentions in 1 Peter 1, he goes west to east indicating he was in the east at that time and not Rome as many teach. In fact, 'modern Babylon' was not mentioned until after Peter's death (Revelations 17).

Additionally, another Greek historian, Metapirastes, reports 'that Peter was not only in these Western parts - or Western Mediterranean - but particularly that he was a long time in BRITAIN, where he converted many nations to the faith' (Antiquitates Apostolicae, Cave's p. 45). So it was Peter who taught in Britain and Paul who taught in Rome when he arrived in 59 A.D. Paul used Antioch for himself and those evangelists under him in much the same way (Acts 14:26). Paul never mentions Peter in the epistle to the people of Rome. Even the Jews in Rome hadn't heard of the gospel teachings until then as Acts 28:21-23 states. So any Peter teaching in Rome at this time was not the chief minister of the Apostles but another with the same name - Simon 'Peter' Magus, the magician and founder of the false Christianity.

There is a general opinion of many scholars that Peter was 'absorbed' into the originating role of 'Pope' to secure the Roman Church authority. It is for the reader to discern the truth of history.

Answer 5

At one point Jesus asked the disciples who they thought He was. He received various answers, a teacher, a prophet, ect. Only Peter answered that Jesus was the Messiah, the true Son of God, as told in the Old Testament. This is the 'rock' that Jesus would build His church on.

Answer 6

Jesus thought that Peter was very important, as he was the rock on which he would build the church on. Peter would work hard after the death of Christ.