PETER: THE FIRST POPE?

Catholics use the following Scripture as proof that Peter was the first Pope: (Matthew 16:13-19) When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered and said,"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." [Peter declared that Jesus was not one among many - He was someone set apart from all others. "The Christ" is the Greek title for the promised Messiah for whom the Jews had been waiting. Peter not only affirmed Jesus to be the Messiah; he identified the Messiah as the Son of God. Though the disciples had heard the Father call Jesus His beloved Son (Matt. 3:17) and had heard Jesus address God as Father numerous times (Matt. 11:27), this confession went beyond that to express the understanding of their hearts.] Jesus answered and said to him,"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, [The church is built upon Jesus Christ: (1 Cor 3:11) "For no other foundation can anyone lay that that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ")] ["This Rock" refers to Peter's confession - of The Christ, the Promised Messiah, the Son of God - It is the Rock on which the church would be built.] and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. [Jesus' point is that death itself cannot destroy the church or keep it from going forward.]
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." [The binding and loosing is a reference to the distribution of the gospel. Peter and all believers were given the gospel ("the keys of the kingdom") to introduce men and women to Christ and His salvation and thereby build the church. (Matt 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.")]