Recapitulation
We have seen in our study of
Matthew that after nearly three years of Jesus’ teaching concerning the kingdom
of heaven, there has been little repentance—no ‘great awakening’ — certainly not
on a national scale. Last time we saw
that Jesus told His disciples to beware of the Pharisees’ teaching which
emphasized the physical realm to the exclusion of the heart. The religious leaders had even dared Jesus to
prove that He had the authority of heaven to speak and teach this. His answer, though somewhat veiled, was that
they would only receive the sign of Jonah—whose preaching brought about
repentance among the sinful Ninevites some 830 years before. Jonah’s experience with the great fish also pictured
Jesus’ own conquering of death after 3 days and 3 nights. So, Jesus’ teaching concerning godly
repentance and His coming death and resurrection would be the only sign from
heaven that Israel would receive showing His authority to speak for God. Just like the prophets of old, He gave His
message from heaven and provided a validating sign to come.
The Rock and the Gates of Hades
Now in verses 13-20 of Matthew 16 we come to a well-known pericope that
has been understood in different ways. This
is why we must carefully consider the background, the definitions of the words,
and the meaning of the grammar in this passage.
First, the background. In verse 13, Jesus led His disciples to
Caesarea Philippi. This town is located
at one of the major sources of the Jordan River due north of the Sea of
Galilee. It is still an impressive sight
today to watch the water pouring out of a huge rock formation and then plunging
down into the depths of the Jordan Rift Valley.
In Jesus’ day, the site had been preempted by the worship of various
Greek and Roman Gods—especially Pan—which explains why it is still called
Panias today. There is a cave there that
was said to be the entrance to Hades which in Greek and Roman thought (as well
as Jewish) was understood to refer to the underworld—the abode of the
dead.
Hades was the Greek word that
the Jews used to translate their Hebrew word Sheol. It was never considered to be the kingdom of
Satan. But it was the place under the
earth where the dead were said to have gone after they die. In Scripture, all the dead are in Sheol (or
Hades) but the righteous go to a special place within Sheol reserved for them—sometimes
called paradise or Abraham’s bosom. Paul
refers to the righteous as being “present with the Lord.” In either case, death is a place of waiting
until the resurrections. The Bible
teaches that there is a resurrection of the righteous first and later there is
a resurrection of the ungodly (John 5:28-29).
But, generally speaking, Hades in Scripture refers to the temporary
abode of the dead.
Who is the Son of Man?
It is here, at this place known
as the gates of Hades, that Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do people say that
the Son of Man is?” This is how He
almost always referred to Himself. It is
also a deliberate echo of Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man (Daniel 7:13-14) to
Whom was given dominion over an everlasting kingdom. This everlasting kingdom was also seen in
another of Daniel’s visions as a huge mountain of stone that grew to fill the
whole earth and thus overthrowing all previous earthly kingdoms (Daniel
2:31-45).
The disciples were quite
aware of the rumors going around about Jesus’ identity. They rattled off some of them: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of
the other prophets. The consensus among
the general population seemed to be that He was one of God’s prophets Who had
been resurrected. Recall that even Herod
had entertained that idea in chapter 14.
So, if that was the consensus, that He spoke for God, why didn’t they
pay attention to Him and believe Him? It
appears that they did believe Him, to a point.
But they had been poisoned by the leaven of the Pharisees. They rejected the notion, by and large, that
there was any need to effect a transformation of the heart. They also had a history of killing the
prophets with whom they disagreed.
So, Jesus said, “But Who do
you say that I am?”
While Peter seemed to
frequently open his mouth before putting his brain in gear, this time he was
spot on: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus tells us that Peter was enabled to see
this only because God had revealed it to him.
It was not a conclusion from the physical realm. The leaven of the Pharisees would have ruled
out such an answer!
I Will Build My Church on This Rock
It is Jesus’ enigmatic reply that
many have struggled to understand. Let’s
examine His statement line by line.
“Blessed are you, Simon
Bar-Jonah!” Recall, that in the
beatitudes in Matthew 5, the blessed ones will inhabit the kingdom of God! And this is the only place Jesus calls Peter
by his surname, Bar-Jonah—meaning son of Jonah.
This is a deliberate textual link to Jesus’ comments about the sign of Jonah,
the spokesman of God in Nineveh’s day, that He had just made a few days before
when the Pharisees demanded a sign from heaven.
Peter’s words –his confession about Jesus’ divine identity—are a further
revelation of Jesus’ authority—only, the Pharisees did not get to witness them.
“And I tell you, you are
Peter. And on this rock—the Son of Man,
I will build My Church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against
it.” Many commentators have noted that
the Greek word for ‘Peter’ and ‘the rock’ are similar. So, some argue that
Peter is the rock and Jesus will build His Church on Peter. Indeed, Paul in Ephesians 2:20 refers to the
church “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.”
But this mostly likely refers to the apostles’ and prophets’ own
foundation which is Jesus. So, the
Church is actually built on Jesus—just like the ministries of the apostles and
prophets were also. This is borne out also
in 1 Cor 3:10-11 where Jesus is the only foundation for the Church. In 1 Cor
10, Paul refers to the Israelites drinking spiritually from a spiritual rock
that was Christ. Lo and behold, the
Jordan gushing from the rock at Caesarea Philippi is the setting for Jesus
statement.
Furthermore, how did Peter himself
understand the foundation of the Church?
In 1 Peter 2:4-8, Jesus is the Living Stone and we are small living
stones that are built on Him who was rejected by the builders but has become
the Chief Cornerstone. The word “stone
of stumbling” there in 1 Peter is part of a quote from Isaiah 8:14. Peter’s
quote uses the same Greek word that is translated “rock” in our passage in
Matthew. It is the word ‘petra’ (petra). Interestingly
enough, it is the same word used in Matthew 7:24-28 to describe the foundation
of the wise man’s house. It means
bedrock. Jesus will build His Church on
bedrock—Himself. Jesus is the rock that
will not roll.
So why do some people say the rock is
Peter himself? The Greek word for Peter
is ‘Petros’ (PetroV) which refers
to a small pebble, stone, or detached rock and some feel this is intended to be
a pun of equality. But Peter saw himself
as a living stone being built on the bedrock of Christ. Jesus is saying, I will build my Church on
the bedrock of Myself. And you, Peter, are
one of my choice stones being laid on Me.
Some have thought that perhaps the
Church is built on Peter’s confession (that Jesus is the Son of God). But, as important as that is, the Church is built
by Christ. The only stone Peter saw in
himself was the living stone he spoke about in 1 Peter 2 which also describes
all believers who are built upon Jesus the foundation.
The Non-Prevailing Gates
Now what about “the gates of Hades
will not prevail against it.” At Panias today
there are giant iron barred gates preventing entrance into the cave where the door
to Hades was once thought to be. Many
have thought Jesus was referring to attacks by the forces of Hell against the
Church. But, gates are purely
defensive. They don’t attack. And the Greek word is ‘Hades’ (‘adhV) not
’Gehenna’ or Hell (geenna) as Jesus discusses in Matthew 5. Hell is not yet inhabited by anyone—not even
Satan.
Remember our discussion earlier
regarding Hades. It is the realm of the
dead. The gates of Hades are the
entrance to the realm of death. So, Jesus
is saying death will not prevail over Jesus or His Church. We will die because of the curse but those
who die in Jesus will be present with the Lord and will ultimately experience
resurrection. And Jesus Himself will
conquer death in His resurrection.
Remember death was Adam’s curse.
It is now conquered.
The Keys of the Kingdom
Finally, Jesus’ next words have also
provided fodder for an endless supply of jokes about Peter checking IDs at the
gates of heaven. “I will give you the
keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever
you forbid on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatever
you permit on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven” (Williams).
This is like the NASB, Amplified and NET Bible.
The versions that have “shall be forbidden (or bound)” or “shall be
permitted (or loosed)” are wrong (1) because of the Greek grammar and (2) because
they seem to wrongfully imply that whatever the Apostles decide becomes the law
of heaven!
What about those keys? Notice that they aren’t for the gates of Hades
but for the kingdom. In Matthew 23:13,
Jesus accused the Pharisees of shutting off the kingdom of heaven from people, not
entering themselves, and not permitting others to go in. But here Peter was given the authority to
initiate the spread of the gospel—the good news—to all the world. This he finally did on the day of
Pentecost. He opened a door that the
Pharisees tried to slam shut—but failed miserably. This door to the kingdom is still open
today. But some day it will shut.
And what were the terms of binding and loosing
or permitting and forbidding? We must be
careful not to teach easy salvation like the Sadducees (You’re born into it) or
difficult salvation like the Pharisees (You earn it). It is a narrow path that leads to
heaven. Salvation is free but not
cheap. The apostles must preach the
bread of heaven not the leaven of the Pharisees. Beware of both legalism and rationalism.
Finally, why did He forbid them to share this
yet? Because they did not yet understand
the role His death, burial, and resurrection would play in this great gift of
salvation. (See the next pericope). All
they knew was that Jesus Himself would provide it.
© 2018 Eric Thimell
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