13 Jan What Jesus thinks about his church
So much talk about the church these days – countless books, podcasts, conferences etc.
But far more important to consider what Jesus actually said about the church. And the surprising answer is: not much, actually! He didn’t say all that much. He talks about it once here in Matthew 16, and then again in Matthew 18, but that’s it. Jesus’ economy of words (some of us might need to take a page out of His book!) But what He did say was so crucial and so potent. And I want us to look at that today.
READ: Matthew 16:13-20
Context of this passage
- Jesus is probing His disciples as to what they’re hearing about people’s perception and understanding of Him
- Their responses reveal that there is such a breadth of beliefs, understanding and opinions out there – which is not too different to today actually.
- But after hearing their reports of other’s beliefs, Jesus then turns His focus and attention to Him. “Enough about what they think; what do you actually think?”
- Maybe that’s a question that God might be presenting before you today. And it’s perhaps the most important question you could ever pause to consider
In Jesus’ reply to Peter in verses 17-19, He talks about four key elements of the Church.
1) OWNERSHIP: WHO IT BELONGS TO
- In verse 18, Jesus doesn’t say “THE church” or “YOUR church” or “A church” but “MY church”. The church belongs to Jesus, and not to anyone else.
- Key implications
- Implication 1
- Christ is the head and not anyone else. Our obsession with “founders” – my suggestion, just keep going back further! Who founded that person? I went to a pastors’ conference where the speaker very helpfully challenged the room (of pastors) never to say “my church” but rather “the church that I serve”
- You see this a lot with kids – when they get possessive, entitled etc. “Oh it’s yours, is it? Did you pay for it with your own money? Are you paying rent?”
- Talk about why this is such good news for people suffering from church hurt. Yes that leader may have hurt you – but he/she is not in charge of this place – so it doesn’t invalidate the entire thing. You don’t abandon a company because someone in middle management made a mistake. Not saying it doesn’t affect you, or that it doesn’t make you think twice. That’s understandable. But to write off the entire thing altogether, is to place undue weight on that person. They’re just a steward! They are not the owner. Don’t give them more power or credit than is due to them.
- Implication 2
- The church that knows the church doesn’t belong to them is a church that is INVITING and GENEROUS. The posture is not trying to conserve and protect but rather to joyfully and freely share what they have been given as a gift.
- Whilst we don’t OWN the church, we have been invited into the church as family and that is a cause for joy! And that joy can’t be contained but spills over into others.
- May this church be a church that has its arms wide open to new people and outsiders, we are expecting and excited for new people to show up and when they do we embrace them and show them the same love that Christ first showed to us
2) FOUNDATION: WHAT IT’S BUILT ON
- Verse 16 tells us that the Church is built on the right understanding of the person of Jesus Christ
- Interesting discussion here – we are about to wade into a highly controversial and highly contested portion of scripture. In fact, for at least 400 years, Christians have disagreed over the meaning of this quote from Jesus: “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church”.
- What we see is that in this moment, Peter – under direct, divine revelation from God the Father as we read in verse 17 (“for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven”) – correctly proclaims of Jesus that He is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v 16).
- Two main camps as to what this verse suggests
- Traditional Roman Catholic answer…
- …is that when Jesus said these words to Peter, He was saying that Peter himself was the rock upon which the church would be built. That Peter is special and set apart in some way and has authority over the other apostles. This verse gives authority to name Peter as the first pope
- There’s so much that could be said about this interpretation, but the main problem I have with this view is that it elevates Peter to a point that doesn’t seem to align with the rest of scripture. If Peter as one human is truly the foundation on which the entire historic church is built, it places a huge amount of responsibility upon him as one individual, which doesn’t seem to make sense to me
- Case in point – watch what happens with Peter literally moments after he makes this confession. Do you want to know? Jesus calls him Satan! It’s in verse 23. Moments after Jesus places the entire weight of the church upon this one person, he rebukes Peter for reprimanding him. Is Jesus feeling instant regret for picking the wrong guy? “Oh no, the future of the entire church is doomed!”
- I’m not so sure! So I think there’s a better view – and this view would be the one that would be considered the most widely accepted within Protestant Christianity.
- Protestant answer
- You see, the mainline Protestant view is that the “rock” that Jesus refers to is indeed Peter, but it’s Peter by virtue of the confession he just made about the identity of Jesus. Let me explain what I mean.
- See, the timing of Jesus’ statement is crucial. When Jesus says “upon this rock I will build my church”, he’s saying it right after Peter makes his great confession of faith. It’s not as if Jesus looks around and says “ok you’re the best I’ve got so let’s go with you.” Jesus’ announcement was in direct response to Peter’s confession. Peter could not have been the rock until and unless he made the great confession. The rock is Peter as he publicly confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It’s upon that rock that Jesus will build His Church.
- The other important thing to remember here as well is the context of this passage/conversation. Who’s in the room? Is it just Jesus and Peter? No – there’s others who are a part of this dialogue as well. It’s Jesus and all of His disciples. And so the question that Jesus poses in verse 15 – “But what about you? What do you say I am?” – is not a question directed just to Peter, but to all the disciples. It’s a collective “you”, a bit like “y’all”. Now Peter does jump to respond, which is very typical of Peter. But when he answered Jesus’ question, he wasn’t answering only for himself – he was answering for all of them. And likewise when Jesus said “You are the rock,” he wasn’t speaking of Peter alone. He was speaking of all the apostles.
- I’m not saying that there’s no distinction between them at all. Because Jesus clearly does give special acknowledgment to Peter – in verse 17 Jesus clearly says “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah”. And as history tells us, Peter clearly did have something of a special leadership role to play in establishing the early church. In Acts 2:14-41, he’s the first to announce the gospel to the Jews. In Acts 8:14-25, together with John Peter confirms the inclusion of the Samaritans in the church. And in Acts 10-11, Peter is instrumental in the conversion of the first Gentiles. It’s obvious that Jesus uses him in a frontline way.
- But it’s also true to say that Jesus was saying, Peter, you are a rock. And upon you – and others like you – I will build my church.”
- Why is this important – not just for history. Two key implications
- Key implication #1 – right doctrine is not just for the nerds, it’s absolutely foundational. Remember it was Peter’s correct understanding and acknowledgement of who Jesus really was, that triggered Jesus to respond the way that He did. In other words, it’s of paramount importance that we understand correctly who Jesus is. We have to get this right!
- And we get it right not just through Bible study and preaching and Night School – all of which are really important though and not at all to be minimised. But as Jesus said, Peter’s correct understanding of God came through divine revelation. In verse 17 Jesus clearly says, “for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven”. And that’s what we must be constantly asking God for as well. “Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see you.” We want to be a church that is constantly seeking to know God CORRECTLY and to know God DEEPLY
- And having the right understanding of Christ is not a “one and done” thing as if it’s some course you graduate from. In Philippians 3:10, 12 it says, “I want to know Christ… not that I have already obtained all this or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on…” It’s a lifelong pursuit. Because the reality is that it’s always being tested, challenged, assumptions etc. We need to keep talking about Christ, knowing Him, understanding Him, meditating on Him.
- It’s so easy to build the church on other peripheral things. Have you noticed that? And they are good sounding things. But it’s only a matter of time before you drift. If you built the church on anything other than the right understanding of Jesus Christ, you do so at your own peril. And watch the outcome. You become a social club, a community impact organisation, political activist etc. None of these are bad things but they are NOT the church and they will never replace the church
- Key implication #2 – if you declare this of Christ, then you’re it. If you, like Peter, have confessed this revolutionary truth – that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God – then God wants to use YOU as the foundation to build the church. You are God’s plan A and there is no plan B. This should feel like both an HONOUR and a WEIGHT of responsibility to carry.
- Ephesians 2:19-22 – “consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
3) DURABILITY – HOW LONG IT WILL LAST
- “And the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (v 18) – in other words, the church will prevail. A lifetime guarantee, or better yet, an eternal guarantee
- This is an extremely popular verse. And the common understanding/picture is of the church on the offensive, storming the gates of hell, ready to reclaim every square inch for Christ. And when we do so, we’ll prevail!
- Now as much as I love that interpretation and as much as it fires me up, the only problem is that it’s not what this passage is about at all. It’s not wrong, but it’s just not what Jesus is talking about here. Because we need to let the passage speak for itself rather than import our own understanding into the text
- The key phrase here that we need to understand is “the gates of hell”. As tempting as it is to do so we need to refrain from imagining or visualising what we think this means and instead do the hard work of figuring out what it actually means
- So this phrase “gates of hell” was a commonly-understood Jewish expression that means “realm of the dead”. We see the exact phrase appear in other parts of the Bible, like Job 38:17 and Isaiah 38:10 – and in both passages the phrase is used as a euphemism for death. And if you think about the metaphor it makes total sense. The “gates” are the passageway from this life, to the grave.
- And so based on this understanding, Jesus’ promise to Peter about the church in verse 18 isn’t so much about storming Satan’s lair and conquering demonic powers. The promise here is not so much about a spiritual crusade, but more about Christ’s guarantee that the church will not be vanquished by death. Jesus is saying that death and all its ugly power will never overcome the church that He is building. We are all going to die someday, but the church goes on and on and on. That is the assurance that Jesus is giving Peter. We are here for a little and then we are gone. But the church goes on.
- And ironically it is the awareness of our finitude in this life and the eternal life of the life that is to come, that makes the church so powerful. People who confess that Jesus is the Christ know that in the same way that He conquered the grave, we too who belong to Christ need not have any fear of death. We already have the victory over death through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57). Or as Jesus himself puts it, “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live” (John 11:25)
- This is what has made the church so invincible through the ages. “To live is Christ and to die is gain”. That mentality, that approach is what has enabled the church to not only survive in the midst of persecution but in fact to grow in and through it – and to this day. The church stubbornly continues on
- That is why, as history shows us, the church not only SURVIVES persecution but GROWS in and through it
- Here’s my question though – how does the church have this staying power? On what basis is the church able to withstand the power of death?
- You see, though the disciples would not have understood it fully at the time, what Jesus was saying here was actually a prophetic declaration. When Jesus said that the power of death will never overcome the church, he said it because He knew that before long, HE would rise from the dead. He would be the one to open the gates of hades. Up until Jesus’ day no one had ever escaped from the land of the dead. But Jesus was about to. And when 3 days after He was crucified He emerged from the tomb, He did so holding the keys in his hand.
- That’s what Revelation 1:18 “I am the Living One. I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” How do you get the keys to Hades? You break the gate wide open. You die and then you come back from the dead.
- And that is why the gates of Hades — death itself — can never overpower the church. Because Jesus Christ has died and come back from the dead and he holds in his hand the keys to the gates of Hades.
- Notice that verse 18 is a declaration, a promise, an announcement. It’s not wishful thinking here. The church rolls on. Because it doesn’t depend on mortal men and women. And thank goodness for that! If it did, the church would have perished long, long ago.
- Thank goodness the Church is built on the word and promise of Jesus Christ, who is the Living One, who was dead and is now alive forevermore, who holds the keys of death and Hades in his hand. That, my friends, is the church’s assurance. That is our hope. Death cannot overpower the church. The Gates of Hell shall not prevail. Why? Satan may have the gates, but Jesus has the keys.
FUNCTION: THE POWER IT HAS
- “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.” (v 19)
- Two key concepts here: the keys, and binding and loosing. We’ll consider each in turn
- Keys
- What is a key? A key is a symbol of authority – they can open and lock doors, or they can open or lock chains. Jesus is saying that He is going to give us some keys – in other words, He is going to impart or delegate to us some measure of authority
- The idea of the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” is that of opening the door for people to experience the kingdom of God. When the Gospel is preached and demonstrated, people are invited into a relationship with God – and in essence, the keys are being exercised to unlock the door of heaven so that those who believe the message of salvation may be able to walk through. Whenever you offer the gospel to another person, you are opening the door of heaven to them. What happens if people go through that door? They are saved. They are born again. They become children of God and you have opened the door for them.
- Binding and loosing
- How about the second part – binding and loosing? A lot of people assume that this is a reference to spiritual warfare. And whilst I’m a big believer in spiritual warfare, this isn’t what Jesus is talking about here. There’s other passages you can turn to for that. Rather, the idea of “binding and loosing” is a continuation and escalation of the first idea of the keys of the kingdom
- Two important things to know in order to understand this phrase.
- Firstly, the concept of “binding and loosing” would not have been new to the Jewish audience. These expressions were common to Jewish legal phraseology, referring to the authority that rabbis had to interpret and apply the law
- In a legislative sense, the word “bind” means to “forbid” something, and the word “loose” means to “permit” something
- In a judicial sense, the word “bind” means to “punish” and the word “loose” means to “release from punishment”
- Secondly, in the translation we just read (NIV) these phrases are translated as “will be loosed” and “will be bound” – which almost seems to suggest that Peter received an authority independent from God to which all of heaven must bow. But scholars far more intelligent and accomplished than me (e.g. D. A. Carson) have argued that that translation is not the best. The better and more accurate way to translate it is this: “Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven” and “Whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven”. The key phrase is “shall have been” – in other words, action in heaven precedes the action on earth. It happens in heaven first, and then the action on earth mimics that.
- Take both of these things together and I think the true meaning starts to come into view. Peter and the other apostles had unique roles in establishing the church. We’ve already acknowledged that Peter is the representative of the Apostles, and Jesus was therefore delegating to him a certain degree of authority – to make doctrinal declarations and obligations in the church. And when Peter (and the other apostles) make these kinds of decisions, they are not doing so independent of God’s input. It’s not that the apostles were given the privilege of changing God’s mind, as if whatever they decided on earth would be duplicated in heaven. Rather, they were encouraged that, as they moved forward in their apostolic duties, they would be fulfilling God’s plan in heaven – declaring what heaven has already settled. They were continuing the work that Jesus began, armed with the same authority that He possessed. Whether it was deciding which documents were to be included in the New Testament, or settling disputes between members of the church and exercising godly discipline in the church were necessary, they would be fulfilling God’s plan in heaven.
- What does this mean for us?
- Implication #1
- Not the faithful follower of a losing team or a team that has past its prime
- Not on the back foot but the front foot. There is authority and power! That should arm you with a degree of pride and confidence – to be a part of the church is not to belong to a losing team
- Implication #2
- But I would say the key response you should have to this verse is that you should feel a sense of weight and responsibility. If it’s really true that you have been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and it’s your role to release on earth whatever is already true in heaven – the question is, to what extent are you fulfilling that function? If you’ve been delegated the authority to bind and loose – what are you going to do with it? Your goal as a follower of Jesus and a member of His church is not just to hold on for dear life and hope you don’t break any commandments. A church that is only inward looking and not outward looking is a contradiction in terms! What or who are the doors that God wants you to unlock? In what spheres of influence is God sending you into, to bind/loose what is true of heaven into this Earth?
OUR RESPONSE
- Have you given up on the church? Have you “quiet quit” on the church? There are so many who have…
- So many people (including Christians) bailing and jumping ship – it is (or has become) a bad investment so it’s time to pull out and invest in other things. But to do so would be to be extremely short sighted and to ignore this very promise that Jesus made
- If there’s one investment worth making and one investment going all in, it’s this one. And again to be clear – you are NOT investing in a leader, a denomination, a style of church, a brand etc. It’s the CHURCH you are banking on
- Perhaps it’s time to jump back in… Jesus is up to something
- End on the cross – the precious price that He paid on the cross for the Church
- The price that Jesus paid for the church was His own blood
- Acts 20:28 – “be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood”
- The higher the price you are willing to pay for something the more precious it is to you. Christ loved the church enough to pour out His own blood for her; for you
- Salvation – have you made this declaration that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God
Discussion questions:
- What struck you the most from the sermon?
- How does knowing this church not belong to us but to Jesus encourage us to open the church’s arms to new people?
- Why do you think it’s absolutely important to understand correctly who Jesus is?
- What does it mean to have ‘the keys of the kingdom of heaven’? Give some daily life applications.
- How does Christ’s love for the church enable you to love the church?
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