Comments of the Holy Fathers on Mathew 16,18

Verse with context

15He (Christ) said unto them, But whom say you that I am?

16And Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and
blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father who is in heaven.

18And I say also unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.

19And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shall bind
on earth shall be what has been bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth
shall be what has been loosed in heaven.

Comments

George Leo Haydock

AD 1849
Kago. And I say to thee, and tell thee why I before declared, (John i. 42.) that thou shouldst be
called Peter, for thou art constituted the rock upon which, as a foundation, I will build my Church,
and that so firmly, as not to suffer the gates (i.e. the powers) of hell to prevail against its
foundation; because if they overturn its foundation, (i.e. thee and thy successors) they will
overturn also the Church that rests upon it. Christ therefore here promises to Peter, that he and
his successors should be to the end, as long as the Church should last, its supreme pastors and
princes. (Tirinus) In the Syriac tongue, which is that which Jesus Christ spoke, there is no
difference of genders, as there is in Latin, between petra, a rock, and Petrus, Peter; hence, in the
original language, the allusion was both more natural and more simple. (Bible de Vence) Thou art
Peter; and upon this (i.e. upon thee, according to the literal and general exposition of the ancient
Fathers) I will build my church. It is true St. Augustine, in one or two places, thus expounds these
words, and upon this rock, (i.e. upon myself:) or upon this rock, which Peter hath confessed: yet
he owns that he had also given the other interpretation, by which Peter himself was the rock.
Some Fathers have also expounded it, upon the faith, which Peter confessed; but then they take
not faith, as separated from the person of Peter, but on Peter, as holding the true faith. No one
questions but that Christ himself is the great foundation-stone, the chief corner-stone, as St. Paul
tells the Ephesians; (Chap. ii, ver. 20.) but it is also certain, that all the apostles may be called
foundation-stones of the Church, as represented Apocalypse xxi. 14. In the mean time, St. Peter
(called therefore Cephas, a rock) was the first and chief foundation-stone among the apostles, on
whom Christ promised to build his Church. (Witham) Thou art Peter As St. Peter, by divine
revelation, here made a solemn profession of his faith of the divinity of Christ, so in recompense
of this faith and profession, our Lord here declares to him the dignity to which he is pleased to
raise him: viz. that he, to whom he had already given the name of Peter, signifying a rock, (John
i. 42.) should be a rock indeed, of invincible strength, for the support of the building of the church;
in which building he should be next to Christ himself, the chief foundation-stone, in quality of
chief pastor, ruler, and governor; and should have accordingly all fulness of ecclesiastical power,
signified by the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Upon this rock The words of Christ to Peter,
spoken in the vulgar language of the Jews, which our Lord made use of, were the same as if he
had said in English, Thou art a rock, and upon this rock I will build my church. So that, by the
plain course of the words, Peter is here declared to be the rock, upon which the church was to be
built; Christ himself being both the principal foundation and founder of the same. Where also
note, that Christ by building his house, that is, his Church, upon a rock, has thereby secured it
against all storms and floods, like the wise builder. (Matthew vii. 24, 25.) The gates of hell That is,
the powers of darkness, and whatever Satan can do, either by himself or his agents. For as the
Church is here likened to a house, or fortress, built on a rock; so the adverse powers are likened
to a contrary house or fortress, the gates of which, i.e. the whole strength, and all the efforts it
can make, will never be able to prevail over the city or Church of Christ. By this promise we are
fully assured, that neither idolatry, heresy, nor any pernicious error whatsoever shall at any time
prevail over the Church of Christ. (Challoner) The gates, in the Oriental style, signify the powers;
thus, to this day, we designate the Ottoman or Turkish empire by the Ottoman port. The princes
were wont to hold their courts at the gates of the city. (Bible de Vence)

John Chrysostom
AD 407
What then says Christ? You are Simon, the son of Jonas; you shall be called Cephas. Thus since
you have proclaimed my Father, I too name him that begot you; all but saying, As you are son of
Jonas, even so am I of my Father. Else it were superfluous to say, You are Son of Jonas; but
since he had said, Son of God, to point out that He is so Son of God, as the other son of Jonas,
of the same substance with Him that begot Him, therefore He added this, And I say unto you,
You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church; Matthew 16:18 that is, on the faith of his
confession. Hereby He signifies that many were now on the point of believing, and raises his
spirit, and makes him a shepherd. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And if not
against it, much more not against me. So be not troubled because you are shortly to hear that I
shall be betrayed and crucified.

Theophylact of Ochrid
AD 1107
The Lord gives Peter a great reward, that the Church will be built on him. Since Peter confessed
Him as Son of God, the Lord says, "This confession which you have made shall be the
foundation of those who believe, so that every man who intends to build the house of faith shall
lay down this confession as the foundation." For even if we should construct a myriad of virtues,
but we do not have as a foundation the orthodox confession, our construction is rotten. By saying
"My Church" He shows that He is the Master of all, for the whole universe is the servant of God.
The gates of hades are those persecutors who from time to time would send the Christians to
hades. But the heretics, too, are gates leading to hades. The Church, then, has prevailed over
many persecutors and many heretics. The Church is also each one of us who has become a
house of God. For if we have been established on the confession of Christ, the gates of hades,
which are our sins, will not prevail against us. It was from these gates that David, too, had been
lifted up when he said, "O Thou that dost raise me up from the gates of death" (Ps. 9:13). From
what gates, O David? From those twin gates of murder and adultery.
Sources

Full chapter - https://catenabible.com/mt/16

George Leo Haydock comment - https://catenabible.com/com/5735e2c9ec4bd7c9723bf7a6
John Chrysostom comment - https://catenabible.com/com/57eb0db6b0d44ee10cfac4a0
Theophylact of Ochrid comment - https://catenabible.com/com/58a5ce5154b4f95416b2f715