The Church Father regularly said this, and the Greek itself indicates that this is not the establishment of the papacy. Rather, this is talking about the keys of the kingdom, the authority to excommunicate/absolve, binding and loosing someone to/from their sin. In this video I get into both of those things... but if you want a bunch of Church Father quotes, I'll paste a few below. Let's get into it! ******* “The warmth of our praises does not extend to Simon insofar as he was a catcher of fish; rather it extends to his firm faith, which is at the same time the foundation of the whole Church” (Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335 - c. 394), Panegyric on St. Stephen, [PG 46.733]). “Faith, then, is the foundation of the Church, for it was not said of Peter’s flesh, but of his faith, that ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ But his confession of faith conquered hell. And this confession did not shut out one heresy, for, since the Church like a good ship is often buffeted by many waves, the foundation of the Church should prevail against all heresies” (Ambrose (c. 339 - 397), The Sacrament of the Incarnation of Our Lord 4.32-5.35, in The Fathers of the Church, vol. 44, p. 230-231). “The prophets prepared, the apostles laid the foundations. Wherefore the Lord says to Peter: ‘Upon this rock I shall build my Church,’ that is, upon this confession of the catholic faith I shall establish the faithful in life” (Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Ephesians, [PL 17.380]). “Therefore He added this, ‘And I say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church;’ that is, on the faith of his confession. Hereby He signifies that many were on the point of believing, and raises his spirit, and makes him a shepherd” (John Chrysostom (c. 347 - 407 AD), Homilies on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Homily 54.2-3). “The rock is Christ, Who gave to His apostles, that they also should be called rocks, ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church’” (Jerome (c. 342 - 420), Commentary on Amos 6.12-13). “Christ, you see, built his Church not on a man but on Peter’s confession. What is Peter’s confession? ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ There’s the rock for you, there’s the foundation, there’s where the Church has been built, which the gates of the underworld cannot conquer” (Augustine (354 - 430), Sermons, Sermon 229P.1, in The Works of Saint Augustine, vol. III/6, p. 327). “And upon this rock I will build my Church (Mt 16:17-18); not upon Peter, or Rocky, which is what you are, but upon the rock which you have confessed. I will build my Church though; I will build you, because in this answer of yours you represent the Church” (Augustine (354 - 430), Sermons, Sermon 270.2, in The Works of Saint Augustine, vol. III/7, p. 289). “Jesus said to divine Peter: ‘You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church.’ Now by the word ‘rock’, Jesus indicated, I think, the immoveable faith of the disciple” (Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376 - 444), Commentary on Isaiah 4.2, [PG 70.940]). “‘It will not be moved’ is said about the Church to which alone that promise has been given: ‘You are Peter and upon this rock I shall build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.’ For the Church cannot be moved because it is known to have been founded on that most solid rock, namely, Christ the Lord” (Cassiodorus (c. 485 - c. 585), Expositions in the Psalms, Psalm 45.5).
