One Of The Most Important Sentences In History
Matthew 16:13-20
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremi- ah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
The overarching theme of this 2nd Section of Matthew’s Gospel (4:17- 16:20) is the Proclamation of Jesus the Messiah to Israel, and today we reach the climactic and final scene of this section: Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ.
Jesus declares that knowing and confessing Jesus as the Christ is knowledge that comes from God’s revelation of that knowledge, and that those who confess Jesus as the Christ will flourish.
The church is not a charity. The church is not a social service agency. The church is not a fraternal club. The church is a group of people called and centered around Peter's confessional claim at Caesarea Phillipi: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." - Matthew 16:16
Now, the church indeed does charitable things, serves the community, and draws people together. But each of those things derives from its identity; none of those things constitutes its identity. It is Jesus himself who gives the church its identity.
As long as we hold onto Peter's claim, the forces of evil and death itself will never prevail over Christ's church.
The church’s ROCK is its unwavering commitment to the proclamation of the true identity of Jesus the Christ.
Herod is dead. Caesar is dead. Pilate is dead.
But Jesus is alive, and his church will never be defeated. Amen.
SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES
The English word "church" is a translation of a Greek word which means "called out" or “the assembled ones.” It was originally a political term that the early church co-opted. We are the "assembled ones" around Jesus the Christ.
"Peter" is really just "Rock." Peter's given name was Simon—the traditional Jewish name “Simeon"--but in this passage Jesus gives him his nickname and explains its significance—Peter’s confession about the identity of Jesus will be the "rock" on which Jesus builds his church. (By the way, the Aramaic word for "rock" is "cephas," which is why Peter is sometimes called "Cephas" in the New Testament. It seems clear that Aramaic and not Greek was the first language of Jesus and the disciples--Greek was the language of commerce and politics.)
Jesus's words to Peter are a bit confusing there at the end:
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” [16:19 NIV]
What does that stuff about the binding and loosing mean? I like how David Bauer puts it:
“Jesus will give to the entire church the authority to declare what is required and what is not required for entrance into the kingdom, and God himself will validate and act on these decisions. Manifestly, the authority to declare what is required and not required does not include the possibility of contradicting the teaching of Jesus. The law continues in force and Jesus is its true interpreter (5:17-48). The judicial decisions of the church may involve adapting and applying the commands of Jesus to new situations which the church will continually encounter in the period between the resurrection and the Parousia (28:19-20), with the assurance that such ecclesial decisions will be binding.”
—David Bauer, The Gospel of the Son of God
What this means is that Jesus has given the church the responsibility— and it is a heavy and sacred responsibility—of teaching what he has taught us.
P.S. Why does Jesus tell the Twelve not to tell anyone that he’s the Messiah? Because the popular understanding of the Messianic role is not at all what the role will turn out to be, and this misunderstanding will be an impediment to Jesus’s ministry. This is why, e.g., Jesus never calls himself “Messiah,” but prefers the term “Son of Man” [see commentary on Monday, September 25]—he knows that the Jews will misunderstand if he uses the loaded term Messiah.