Matthew 16:18 "upon this rock I will build my church; and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
This is to me one of the most unusual and interesting prophecies in the
entirety of the scriptures. It is very easily overlooked because
it is often overshadowed by the context surrounding it. This
prophecy is important because it shows the omniscience of Jesus.
Only God is all knowing. This verse then proves the divinity of
Jesus. To get the full picture of this prophecy we need to look
at its context. The verse that I am most concerned with however
is verse 18.
In verse 13 Jesus asked the disciples, "Whom do men say that I the Son
of man am?". The disciples answered him by saying that some said
He is John the Baptist, some said that He is Elijah, Jeremiah or one of
the prophets. Jesus then asked the disciples, "But whom say ye
that I am?".
We give Peter an unfair judgement quite often. We are quick to
say that he was always sticking his foot in his mouth. We forget
how quick he was to defend Jesus as he was being arrested. We
forget how he was the first and only one of the disciples who wished to
go meet Jesus on the water. We concentrate on his failures
instead. Here Jesus asked his disciples this question. The
question for all eternity, the question with the weight of the
souls of men riding on it.
And Peter spoke up and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God". Peter has come to a saving knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He not only believes, but this believing is unto
salvation. Thou art the Christ, You alone are Christ, You alone
are the messiah, the Son of the living God. Salvation is in You
alone. You are God's Son, the only begotten of the Father.
You are my God. This is shouting ground, church. As we lift
the blood stained banner of the cross for all to see, we acknowledge
and hope to bring others to the knowledge, "Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God." Praise His name, he is THE CHRIST, THE
SON of THE LIVING GOD. "And his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)
Verse 17 then says, "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art
thou, Simon Barjona:
for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father
which is in heaven". This saving knowledge doesn't come to us
because we are so inteligent, it is imparted by God Himself.
Isn't He wonderful? The very knowledge that produces the faith
that God demands is given by God to us. God is so good to us, His
mercy is without ceasing. Hasn't He been good to you? He
has been so good to us. His love is without measure. While
I was lost and undone, without God or His Son, Christ died for the
ungodly. He died for you and me and He imparts this knowledge to
us through His Holy Spirit.
This brings us to the 18th verse, the key verse in this short
study. Let's take the first part of this verse separately ,
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (
),
and upon this
rock (
) I will build my
church". Jesus here refers to Peter as Petros or a small stone, a
pebble. Then He says, And upon this Petra, upon this Large rock,
upon this foundational rock, I will build my church. Jesus draws
a distinction here between Peter, the pebble and the Large rock that
will be foundational for the church. What is this large rock,
this foundation? Peter's confession? In a way it is Peter's
confession, but it goes deeper than this. The foundational Rock
is what Peter's confession says. "Thou art the Christ, the son of
the living God", and even more to the point, the Rock to which Jesus
refers to is Himself, the Church is built on Christ. No other
foundation would stand the test of time. No other foundation
would make the rest of His statement come to fruition.
What He says next is the most unlikely of any prophecy in the bible to
stand the test of time. One thing that makes this prophecy so
unlikely to come to pass is the audience that heard it. The
hearers of the prophecy were the disciples of Jesus. Most of
these men were unlearned men, at least by the worlds standards.
Of course at this point in time they are well on their way through the
three year Jesus Seminary. They were also much of the time being
chastised for their little faith. These were the first group of
people that this prophecy makes a claim about. These men who
would scatter when Jesus was being crucified would conquer the gates of
Hell. This is so far fetched that for it to come to pass Jesus
had to know ahead of time that it was going to come to pass. He
couldn't know this unless he knows how everything will end up.
Unless He truly is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, He
could not know this. He is truly divine, truly the Son God.
In the midst of this rag tag group of
disciples, these men who were rough around the edges, Jesus makes a
statement that proves without a shadow of a doubt that He is who Peter
said He is. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Surrounded by this weak group of men, Jesus completes
the statement in verse 18 by saying, "and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it." This prophecy has stood the test of
time. Tyrants have shed the blood of saints and the church still
stands. Scriptures have been banned by governments, but the
church still stands. False doctrine has been the order of the day
for several centuries at a time, but the church still stands
today. False churches have persecuted the church of Jesus but God
has always had a remnant. Through it all the
church has held up that blood stained banner of the cross and has stood
tall on its foundation, the Christ, the Son of the living God. We
have plundered the gates of Hell to populate heaven. We have done
this because of our foundation, Jesus Christ. He is the mighty
Son of God. All hail the power of Jesus name, let angels
prostrate fall!
By Marty Griffith