Why doesn't Mark mention Peter as the rock?

[colbus]

I am currently in RCIA and have a question pertaining to Jesus commissioning of Peter in Matthew 16- “You are the rock…”
Why wouldn’t this be recorded in Mark since Mark was recording directly from Peter? It just seems strange that this important justification for Peter as first Pope is only in Matthew.
Just a thought.

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi,

We need to remember that Matthew is the one whose special focus is in presenting the Good News to Jews. So he takes great pains to show how Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. Thus He writes of the keys given to Peter, which harken back to Isaiah 22 where where Eliakim is invested with authority: “I place the key of David on his shoulder; should he open, no one shall close, should he close, no one shall open (Is 22:22). Eliakim is seen as a type of the Messiah. This was not Mark’s focus. You are in our prayers that you will reach Easter with the joy of being home!

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.