The first thing we need to do is consider Judas Iscariot, who is typically remembered for one thing: his betrayal of Jesus. He was one of the twelve disciples who lived with and followed Jesus for three years. He witnessed Jesus’ ministry, His teaching, and His many miracles. He was the treasurer for the group and used this trusted position to steal from their resources (John 12:3-6). Money was important to Judas. As already mentioned, he was a thief, and, according to Matthew 26:13–15, the chief priests paid him “thirty silver coins” to betray Jesus.

1. Why did Jesus choose Peter as the supreme
leader among the 12? Why not Judas Iscariot
since he has leadership skills?
!
The first thing we need to do is consider Judas Iscariot, who is
typically remembered for one thing: his betrayal of Jesus.
Tony Mariot Judas vs Peter Page ! of !1 11

2. He was one of the twelve disciples who lived with and followed Jesus
for three years.
He witnessed Jesus’ ministry, His teaching, and His many miracles.
He was the treasurer for the group and used this trusted position to
steal from their resources (John 12:3-6).
Money was important to Judas. As already mentioned, he was a thief,
and, according to Matthew 26:13–15, the chief priests paid him “thirty
silver coins” to betray Jesus.
Jesus knew from the very beginning what Judas Iscariot would do.
“Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a
devil?”
He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray
him, being one of the twelve. John 6:70–71
At the Last Supper, Jesus predicted His betrayal and identified the
betrayer: “Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have
dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the
son of Simon.” John 13:21-26
Tony Mariot Judas vs Peter Page ! of !2 11

3. !
Jesus said that Judas Iscariot was not “clean”; i.e., he had not been
born again and was not forgiven of his sins (John 13:10–11).
In fact, Judas was empowered to do what he did by the devil himself:
“And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That
thou doest, do quickly.” John 13:27
Judas Iscariot fulfilled the prophecy of Psalm 41:9, “Yea, mine own
familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up
his heel against me.”
“I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture
may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against
me”. John 13:18.
Tony Mariot Judas vs Peter Page ! of !3 11

4. Judas was fully responsible for his actions. Jesus said, “The Son of man
goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man
is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.”
Matthew 26:24
!
Judas was in no way forced to do what he did, he was not considered
in any way to be a leader, he was a thief, coward and traitor. He was at
the moment of his betrayal possessed by Satan Himself, which is to
say a demon did not enter Him, Satan did.
This means Judas was already predisposed to Satan in order to be
possessed. He did not accept or receive Jesus. For this reason he was
not a choice to anything more than he did. Again, his choice.
Tony Mariot Judas vs Peter Page ! of !4 11

5. !
PETER - Matthew 16:13–20
18 “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.
Tony Mariot Judas vs Peter Page ! of !5 11

6. Jesus never chose Peter as the “supreme leader” of anything. Jesus
made a statement that upon “this rock” Christ will build His church.
Peter, had made a confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the
Living God” (Matthew 16:16).
There are two views of Jesus statement, the first view is that Jesus was
declaring that Peter would be the “rock” on which He would build
His church. Jesus appears to be using a play on words.
“You are Peter (petros) and on this rock (petra) I will build my church.”
Since Peter’s name means rock, and Jesus is going to build His church
on a rock – it appears that Christ is linking the two together.
God used Peter greatly in the foundation of the church. It was Peter
who first proclaimed the Gospel on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-47).
Peter was also the first to take the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-48).
In a sense, Peter was the rock “foundation” of the church.
Tony Mariot Judas vs Peter Page ! of !6 11

7. !
The other popular interpretation of the rock is that Jesus was referring
not to Peter, but to Peter’s confession of faith in verse 16: “You are the
Christ, the son of the living God.”
Jesus had never explicitly taught Peter and the other disciples the
fullness of His identity, and He recognized that God had sovereignly
opened Peter’s eyes and revealed to him who Jesus really was.
His confession of Christ as Messiah poured forth from him, a heartfelt
declaration of Peter’s personal faith in Jesus. It is this personal faith in
Christ which is the hallmark of the true Christian. Those who have
placed their faith in Christ, as Peter did, are the church.
Tony Mariot Judas vs Peter Page ! of !7 11

8. Peter expresses this in 1 Peter 2:2–5 when he addressed the believers
who had been dispersed around the ancient world:
“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but chosen by God and
precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a
holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through
Jesus Christ.”
!
At this point, Jesus declares that God had revealed this truth to Peter.
The word for “Peter,” Petros, means a small stone (John 1:42).
Tony Mariot Judas vs Peter Page ! of !8 11

9. Jesus used a play on words here with petra (“on this rock”) which
means a foundation boulder, as in Matthew 7:24, 25 when He
described the rock upon which the wise man builds his house.
Peter himself uses the same imagery in his first epistle: the church is
built of numerous small petros “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5) who, like
Peter, confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and
those confessions of faith are the bedrock of the church.
In addition, the New Testament makes it clear that Christ is both the
foundation (Acts 4:11, 12; 1 Corinthians 3:11) and the head (Ephesians
5:23) of the church.
It is a mistake to think that Jesus is giving either of those roles to Peter.
There is a sense in which the apostles played a foundational role in the
building of the church (Ephesians 2:20), but the role of primacy is
reserved for Christ alone, not assigned to Peter.
So, Jesus’ words here are best interpreted as a simple play on words in
that a boulder-like truth came from the mouth of one who was called
a small stone. And Christ Himself is called the “chief cornerstone”
(1 Peter 2:6, 7).
The chief cornerstone of any building was that upon which the
building was anchored. If Christ declared Himself to be the
cornerstone, how could Peter be the rock upon which the church was
built?
It is more likely that the believers, of which Peter is one, are the stones
which make up the church, anchored upon the Cornerstone, “and he
who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:6).
Tony Mariot Judas vs Peter Page ! of !9 11

10. !
The Roman Catholic Church uses the argument that Peter is the rock
to which Jesus referred as evidence that it is the one true church. As
we have seen, Peter's being the rock is not the only valid
interpretation of this verse.
Even if Peter is the rock in Matthew 16:18, this is meaningless in giving
the Roman Catholic Church any authority.
Scripture nowhere records Peter being in Rome. Scripture nowhere
describes Peter as being supreme over the other apostles. The New
Testament does not describe Peter as being the “all authoritative
leader” of the early Christian church.
Tony Mariot Judas vs Peter Page ! of !10 11

11. Peter was not the first pope, and Peter did not start the Roman
Catholic Church. The origin of the Catholic Church is not in the
teachings of Peter or any other apostle.
If Peter truly was the founder of the Roman Catholic Church, it would
be in full agreement with what Peter taught (Acts chapter 2, 1 Peter, 2
Peter).
Tony Mariot Judas vs Peter Page ! of !11 11