Jesus on the Church

As Jesus meets with his disciples near Caesarea-Philippi, He asks the 12 what the Jews were saying about Him in the nation – what kind of conclusions were people arriving at in their minds. The 12 share several of those views and then all of a sudden, Peter responds with this, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”.

After that confession, Jesus mentions the word “Church” or “Ekklesia” for the very first time, and this whole exchange with Peter gives us the very first words on the principles of the church.  The principles Jesus speaks of here were foundational for the early church and they must be for us as well.  I would to share one of them in this post.  The full context is found in Matthew 16:13-23. 

The Church is a Place that is Built on and Belongs to Jesus – 16:18

16:18 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. 

Two Ideas here: (1) Built  (2) Belongs

When you look at this verse, it is hard to imagine how the Roman Catholic church has landed with the belief that the church is founded upon and is being continued on the lives of fallen men. 

The church must be founded upon someone more than imperfect fallen men.  Though Peter makes this great confession in the text, Peter was not done making mistakes, for after this glorious moment, Peter will make a huge mistake and with Jesus, as Jesus looks at him and will say “satan’.  I can’t think of any worse thing to be said about me, than for Jesus the Son of God to look at me and say ‘satan’.  This is a bad moment!

The church is not built on Peter, but on Christ and we should see the the church as:

(1) Built by Jesus

(2) Belonging to Jesus

         And I tell you,

Jesus perspective matters most! Jesus is sharing His perspective.

            “you are Peter, and on this rock”

·      Peter – Greek is ‘petros’ meaning little/small stone

·       Rock – Greek is ‘petra’ – big rock/ledge ; large stone ; projecting rock or ledge

**The Greek is saying…Peter is a stone, but Jesus is the Rock.**

            you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell      shall not prevail against it. 

This is an important piece to come to an understanding of, as there has been so much confusion in regard to these words for well over 1,000 years.  The reason it is so critical is that the right understanding of them goes to the heart of our understanding of the purpose of church. If the understanding is off, then the function of the church will be off.

Jesus is saying that He is going to build His church upon the confession that He is the Son of God. Peter is a small stone, and Jesus is going to build his church though on the confession Peter has just made. There is a rock, a large stone, a ledge that he is going to build His church upon.

What is that great rock/stone?

The strong indication from the Bible is that it is the confession of Jesus made by Peter and the rest of the Apostles, for they affirmed Peter’s words with their life.

Look at these verses with me…

Ephesians 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Notice that Paul does not say the church is built on Peter, but on the foundation of the Apostles and the prophets, & all who make the same confession. Jesus is the key to it all as the chief cornerstone of the house. 

Ultimately it leads to this, the church is built upon the continued belief and confession that Jesus is the Lord God.  

How does this continue today after the apostolic period? In the church age that we live in?

The way it has been done since the earliest days of the church - the church continues to make the great confession in our affirmation the apostolic teaching.  We learn how the first church continued making the Great Confession as we see this very first description of them in Acts 2:42a “And they devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching”.  

The church is built upon the revelation given to Peter and which he declared among the Apostles. The Apostles affirmed Peter’s confession that day, & then many of them wrote down things concerning this revelation of Jesus. The Holy Spirit moved in the writers and they wrote of the beauty of this confession on animal skins and pages so that the church would understand the depth of the meaning of this confession. So...

Throughout time, the church has been built

on the great revelation of God 

which is contained in Scripture.

The Scripture becomes for us today the loud and clear voice of this confession that Jesus is the Son of God.  The church is built on that purpose and priority!

It is why in my ministry that I cannot allow any ministry to move past the teaching of Scripture as the priority in all we do.  The proclamation of the Gospel in the scripture becomes the way we make the same great confession of Christ that Peter made. The best way to do this is teach the scripture.  He is the Word and so We exalt Him best by teaching the Word.

            “I will build my church”

Jesus is speaking of Himself as the owner and the builder of the church and He sees His apostles as a part of that body of people that He is building. In our generation, as we make this great confession, we are built into this foundation.

Jesus Christ is the foundation stone of the church. It’s not Peter. It’s not a movable stone, it’s an immovable one!

He builds His church on all those who make the great confession, with all those to whom the revelation is given and when they hear it and they believe it. So, the church at large and locally is not built on Peter, but on the confession of Jesus as Lord.

 

When we turn to John's vision in Revelation 21:14 and we see the picture of the heavenly Jerusalem, what is the foundation of the city?  The names of the apostles and the elders.  Jesus is saying here that the apostles will have a unique role in founding the church. 

Paul tells us the church isn’t built on Peter, but on Jesus Christ:

1 Corinthians 3:11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

            “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. 

When a church strategically builds its existence upon the aim of this confession, even the gates of hell will not prevail. Throughout history as satan, dictators, false religions, nations have tried to abolish the church, their efforts have only serve to keep the church alive and for her to even grow in places of enormous persecution.

The big bad wolf can huff and puff but he will never topple the church.  

The church is the gathering of Christ-followers

who make it their mission and practice

to never stop confessing that Jesus is Lord.

If you have left this practice for something else, it is time to return to the greatest ministry that we can have - making the Great Confession in prayer, greeting, singing, preaching, fellowshipping.

After all, the gates of hell cannot shut up the confession that will last for eternity.  The true church will not ever be silent in its proclamation that Jesus is the Son of God.