Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 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. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Jesus had asked Peter to tell who was in his presence. The answer in verse 16 is essential to understanding what Jesus said in reply because it puts the statement “upon this rock” in proper perspective. Unfortunately, a whole body of false doctrine has grown out of the phrase upon this rock, but that isn’t the issue for this lesson. Jesus came to earth to bring salvation and as such, he would be the head of his assembly commonly translated church in the English Bibles.

Paul told the Colossian Christians in 1:18-20: And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. He is the head of the church and has been made such by God the father. He is the pre-eminent one by being the first born from the dead. God dwelled in him fully and made peace for fallen man with God by reconciling man to God through his death for the sin sacrifice. Then in Colossians 2:8-10: Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:  The Christians are told to be alert and not let anyone lead them astray in the traditions of men because they were complete in him, the head of all principality and power. Also on 1 Peter 2:7 Peter wrote: …the same is made the head of the corner, meaning Christ. He is both the head and the cornerstone upon which the church is built. And Jesus said, I will build my church. It is his and it belongs to no one else. (In essence, he said he would bring into existence a group of people, an assembly that would belong to him exclusively. Those people would follow him in a new way to live, called newness of life.)

When Peter answered Jesus saying that he (Jesus) was the Christ, Peter recognized all he had been taught was the truth. That formed the basis for the answer of what Jesus told Peter was going to happen. Jesus recognized Peter to the same degree as Peter recognized him and then said upon this rock I will build my church which referred to himself due to the answer of Peter in verse 16.  In other words, the pronoun this has as its antecedent, that which forms the reference for a pronoun, Christ, the Son of the living God. Further, the evidence that it is the meaning is that the word this is a demonstrative pronoun. The pronoun refers to that which is clearly in evidence, and in the case at hand it is Christ who is in evidence as a result of Peter’s confession. Jesus didn’t shift the emphasis to Peter. There is no evidence in the Old Testament or in the New that Peter was ever the head of the church or a leader of any kind other than an apostle or was ever intended to have another role.

Jesus said that he would build his church upon himself and it would begin by his fulfilling the law, dying on a cross, raising from the dead, and ascending into heaven. In Luke 24: 44-47 we find the following: And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  In these verses, Jesus said he fulfilled all things as written in the Old Book about him; he suffered on the cross, died, and rose. Then he said that repentance would be preached in his name to all nations. In every instance he was referring to what he did and what would be done. The message of salvation rests on him, the one who has given to the world remission of sins. Repentance is the first key to claiming salvation. One needs to know he or she is lost and then the message is turn to God through Jesus Christ.

On the Day of Pentecost Peter didn’t preach himself as the one in whose name they should be baptized for salvation. He said, repent ye and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins… Acts 2:38.  Not one time did he refer to himself as being necessary to affect salvation or that he was in any way involved in what Jesus did. Peter was given the keys and he preached that Jesus was and is the Son of God; he told of his life, his death, burial, and his resurrection.

The day Peter preached, the people obeyed the gospel of Christ, not the gospel of Peter, and those who obeyed were added to the assembly (church) of which Jesus is the head and foundation. The same is true when Phillip preached to the eunuch, Acts 8: 35-38: Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36  And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37  And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38  And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. Phillip preached the saving message of Jesus to the man. He was saved and added to the body of believers, the church, just as those that were added on the Day of Pentecost. Not once did he mention Peter. Then in Acts 10:34-48 Peter preached Jesus to the adults in the house of Cornelius and they too were added to the number of the saved the same way as on the Day of Pentecost and in the same manner as the eunuch. 

Undeniably, the church is built upon the rock which is Jesus Christ. When he spoke to Peter, he added that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He died and was buried. Death couldn’t hold him and therefore nothing could prevent the beginning of his church on the Day of Pentecost. Salvation depended on his breaking the bonds of death that keeps everyone in the grave. It didn’t keep him hidden and as such, he became the first born from the dead; the first one to have eternal life which gives us the hope of eternal life. It can be said that hope in this case is real since he is the foundation of it and it will bear fruit when he returns.

 The writer of Hebrews said in Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Jesus is the substance of our faith since he lived; he is the hope of things, the resurrection from the dead and eternal life; that hope we hold since he rose from the grave, and that event makes hope real; and he is the evidence that eternal life is waiting, though we can’t see it except by faith. All of that is through Christ and Christ alone because upon himself he built his church, those that have the faith and hope for things not seen.  

© 01-12-2003 DEC

Revised 02-24-2008 DEC                           

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