Matthew 16:18 “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.”

“Upon this rock”: The word for “Peter”, “Petros, means a small stone (John 1:42). Jesus used a play on words here with petra which means a foundation boulder (7:24-25).

Since the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that Christ is both the foundation (Acts 4:11-12; 1 Cor. 3:11), and the head (Eph. 5:23), of the church, it is a mistake to think that here He 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 (Eph. 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. Peter himself explains the imagery in his first epistle. The church is built of “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5), who, like Peter, confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Christ Himself is the “corner stone” (1 Pet. 2:6-7).

The word “church” is a translation of ekklesia, meaning “called out” or “assembly.” In the New Testament, it usually refers to a local group of Christians.

In this sense a church is an assembly of baptized believers under the discipline of the Word of God. They are organized to carry out the Great Commission, the administration of New Testament ordinances, and the exercise of spiritual gifts.

When a group of Christians today follows this example, it is a church in the biblical sense of the word. In the New Testament, Christians assembled as churches for fellowship, instruction, and worship and to carry out the Great Commission.

Perhaps the best-known New Testament churches were at Jerusalem, Antioch, Thessalonica, Philippi, Corinth, Ephesus, and the other six cities mentioned (in Revelation 2 and 3).

Every Christian should follow the example of New Testament believers by identifying with a local church, and getting involved in its ministry.

In this, Jesus was telling Peter that His church would be built on the foundational rock of truth, which had just issued from Peter’s mouth. All the blessed (believers in the Lord Jesus Christ), have this truth from the Father.

Jesus promises that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. The phrase “shall not prevail”, should be understood as meaning “shall not stand against.” The imagery would then picture the church as being on the offensive against the gates of hell.

While Jesus’ resurrection certainly will overcome the sting of death, it will also enable His church to aggressively and offensively attack the gates of hell (usage as Satan’s kingdom in Job 38:17; Isa. 38:10; Psalm 107:18); by snatching out victims from darkness into His glorious kingdom of light. The church is on the offensive here and hell is on the defensive.

Verses 19-20: The Lord promises to Peter and the other apostles “the keys of the kingdom.” This means that Peter will have the right to enter the kingdom himself, and preaching the gospel would be the means of opening the kingdom of heaven.

The Book of Acts shows us this process at work. By his sermon on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40), Peter opened the door of the kingdom for the first time. The expressions “bind” and “loose” were common in Jewish legal phraseology, meaning to declare forbidden or to declare allowed.

Peter and the other disciples (see 18:18), were to continue on earth the work of Christ in preaching the gospel and declaring God’s will to men, and were armed with the same authority He Himself possessed.

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