Please look in your Bible and reread Matthew 16:13-20. You will notice that Jesus was speaking to his disciples (plural). He asked them a question: "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
Peter just happened to respond first (you can see his personality by looking at other verses involving Peter).
Peter (which when written in Greek is Petros or Petrus) and is masculine in gender. Unlike the English language, some languages have feminine and masculine genders (ex. French, Spanish, Greek).
When Peter responded, Jesus then said: "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona...." First of all, Jesus called Peter by his given name. He did not call him "Petros" or Peter nor is Jesus implying that Peter is "the rock". Rock is the Greek word "petra" and is feminine in gender.
Now please look at verse 18. Jesus does use the words "this rock" which in Greek is again the feminine gender "petra". "This rock" that Christ is speaking of does not refere to Peter, but rather to what Peter stated. That being: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God". It is this confession before others of whom Christ is referring. This is one of the steps towards salvation.
Steps toward Salvation:
1) Hear the Word (Matt 7:26)
2) Believe (Rom 10:17)
3) Repent of your Sins (Acts 2:38)
4) Confess (Romans 10:9)
5) Be baptized (Mark 16:16)
6) Love God (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
6) Be faithful until death (Rev 2:10)
I hope this has been helpful
My goodness. Has jmfcst discovered cloning?
Must've been an odd DNA change that would change his font to blue.