Matthew 16:13-19 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
The Rock
Jesus said in vs. 18, “You are Peter, a rock, and on this rock I will build My church”. Some groups have taken this that Jesus built His church on Peter as the foundation. But the Amplified version makes it more clear:
Matthew 16:18 AMP 18 And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros—a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra—a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].
The “rock” that Jesus was referring to was not Peter the person, but the behavior that Peter was exhibiting, outlined in vs. 17: “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Peter had received revelation from God. Revelation knowledge is one of the foundations that the Church of Jesus Christ is built upon.
Actually, the scriptures mention three foundation stones:
- Christ, the Chief Cornerstone. (Matthew 21:42; 1Peter 2:6-7) This is being born again. Like the old hymn says, “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all others are but sinking sand.”
- The Rock of Revealed Knowledge, mentioned here in Matthew 16:17-18. This is knowledge of the scriptures and the promises of God, but it is also being led by the Spirit in every situation.
- The foundation of Doing the Sayings of Jesus as outlined in Luke 6:46-49, the parable of the houses built on the rock or the sand. This is not only hearing the word (foundation stone #2), but believing and acting on it.
“… and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” What are gates for? To keep something out, or to hold something in.
If you are being held in bondage as a prisoner to something, the gates of hell are holding you in and you need to get out.
If you are being kept from the blessings of God, or if you know someone else who needs freedom, the gates are holding you out and you need in.
The word used in the Greek is made up from two words, the word for against (kata) and the word for ability, might, or power (ischuo). Some translations say “overpower”, some say “prevail against”. I believe it is important which word we use, because they have different connotations.
Saying “the gates of hell will not overpower it (i.e., the Church)” has a victim mentality – that is, that hell is attacking the Church, but we will be able to withstand the attack.
Saying “the gates of hell will not prevail against it” is the conqueror mentality – i.e., the Church is the one on the attack against the forces of hell who will not be able to withstand our onslaught. I believe this is the correct interpretation in this context because of the next verse.
The Keys of the Kingdom
Matthew 16:19 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
What are keys for? For locking and unlocking things. Will they work on gates? Sure. In this verse Jesus says that with the keys we can bind and loose things; or you can look at it as restraining things or setting things free. It must have been an important point because Jesus says the same thing again in Matthew 18:18.
The context of binding and loosing is the powers of hell – we can restrain the operations of Satan, and set free people and things that have been under his power.
Notice Jesus says He will give us the keys of the kingdom, not the keys to the kingdom. There is a subtle difference. The keys to the kingdom implies they are the keys to the entrance, to let you in – the key to the Pearly Gates, as it were. But the keys of the kingdom implies that you have all the keys that are used in its day to day operation.
I remember in junior high school the janitor had this huge ring with dozens of keys on it. He had the keys of that school – he could get into every classroom, storeroom, cafeteria, locker rooms, teacher’s lounge, administrative offices, etc. He had a key to every room.
Now imagine you have that ring of keys. You’ve got the keys, and each one has a number on it. But you don’t know which key goes to which door. Now the janitor has a book that relates each key number to the door it unlocks, but he has been around so long he’s memorized it and doesn’t carry it around with him.
Without the knowledge of the book, how would you open the doors? By trial and error. You keep trying keys until you finally find the one that fits.
That’s what it’s like trying to obtain the promises of God without knowledge (the #2 foundation stone) of how they work. Eventually you may get lucky and connect, but with a lot of frustration in between.
Who do you say He is?
Peter said that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. But what does that mean, and how does it affect us?
We can call Him Savior, Redeemer, Lord, Mediator, Healer, Baptizer. There is power in the name of Jesus (it is like the Master Key) and in His descriptive titles, because they usually describe Him in relation to us.
The Redemptive Names
“Jehovah” is a Germanized form of the Hebrew name Yahweh (YHWH, no vowels in Hebrew) as coined by Martin Luther (you can tell that to the Witnesses if they come knocking on your door). It is the name I AM THAT I AM as given to Moses at the burning bush.
From time to time God would reveal a new name for Himself that described something about His relation to us. These were compound names built from Jehovah, or I Am, and something else. There are seven of them found in the Old Testament and they are called the Redemptive Names.
Jehovah-jireh, I Am the Lord Who Provides. Given in Genesis 22:8 by Abraham when God provided the ram to sacrifice in place of his son Isaac. Literally it means the Lord Who Sees as in sees ahead. If you see ahead what is going to happen, you can make provision for it. Think of what it took for the Lord to cause that ram to get its head caught in the bushes at the exact place and time when Abraham would need it.
In the New Testament, we have (Phillipians 4:19) May God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Jehovah-rapha, I Am The Lord Who Heals You.
OT: Exodus 15:26; Exodus 23:25-26
NT: Matthew 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24
Jehovah-ra’ah, I Am the Lord Your Shepherd
Psalm 23. The shepherd is guide, provider, and protector to the sheep.
Jehovah-tsidkenu, I Am the Lord Your Righteousness
OT: Jeremiah 23:5-6; Isaiah 54:17
NT: 2 Corinthians 5:21
Righteousness means right-standing with God. It is a description of relationship rather than behavior.
Jehovah-shalom, I Am the Lord Your Peace.
OT: Judges 6:24
NT: John 6:22-24; John 16:33; Phillipians 4:4
Jehovah-nissi, I Am the Lord Your Banner
Exodus 17:13-16
What does this mean? A banner is a flag, carried by the troops into war. Picture you are in a battle and things are not going so good. You look up and see hundreds of horsemen coming over the hill, blowing trumpets and carrying flags. It is very important to you whose flag they are carrying!
Isaiah 59:19 19 So shall they fear The name of the Lord from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
The Lord is My Banner means He is on our side to help fight our battles!
Romans 8:31-32
Jehovah-shammah, I AM the Lord Who is Present (or the the Lord Who is With You)
OT: Ezekiel 48:35
Hebrews 13:5-6 AMP 5 Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]
6 So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?
Mathewt 28:18-20
The High Priest of Our Confession
Hebrews 3:1 1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,
The word confession in the Greek is homologeo, which means to say the same thing. Most people when they hear the word “confession” they think of the confession of sins, but its greater application is in the confession of the Lordship of Christ, as in Romans 10:9-10.
What is the duty of a high priest? It is to take the sacrifices and offerings of the people and present them before God as a representative. (Heb 5:1).
Jesus is the High Priest of our Confession. When we confess Jesus as Lord, He in turn confesses us before God in heaven (Matthew 10:32).
But the confession of Jesus is Lord is not the only confession that Jesus will bring to the Father.
Who do you say that He is?
If your bills are piling up and everywhere you turn there is more demand for your money and your income seems to be decreasing, not increasing – He is Jehovah-jireh, the Lord Who Provides.
If your body is in pain and you’re tired of being sick and tired, He is Jehovah-rapha, the Lord Who Heals You.
If you don’t know which way to turn, and every decision you make seems to go sour and you wish someone would just look out for you – He is Jehovah-ra’ah, the Lord Your Shepherd.
If at times you feel disgusted with yourself and that God is surely displeased with you and put you on a back burner – He is Jehovah-tsidkenu, the Lord Your Righteousness.
When the pressures of life are weighing you down and you are tempted to fear and worry – He is Jehovah-shalom, the Lord Your Peace.
When life seems a battle and you grow weary of always fighting to stay on top of things and just wish someone could help you so you could relax a little – He is Jehovah-nissi, the Lord Your Banner – He is on your side!
When it seems like you are all alone, and God’s voice is dim and His help seems far away – He is Jehovah-shammah, the Lord Who is With You.
And because He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”, we may boldly say, “The Lord is my Helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
Hebrews 13:6
