Matthew 16:17-20; Psalm 116:7-11

Matthew 16:17-20
Peter has just answered Jesus' question about who He is by answering, "You are the Christ, the Song of the living God." Jesus confirmed this by saying that His Father in heaven had revealed this truth.

Now Jesus makes an interesting statement about Peter, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not over come it." v. 18.  I once again turn to Warren Wiersbe's very fine commentary on the New Testament, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Vol. 1, pp 58-59, for help on the meanings of several words. We need to understand the Greek words that Matthew used. "Thou art petros (a stone), and upon this rock (petra--a large rock) I will build My church." Jesus calls Peter a "stone." In fact, all believers are called "living stones" (1 Peter 2:5). Jesus Christ is stating that He Himself is the "large rock" on whom the church is built. Throughout the Old Testament, the rock is recognized as a symbol for God, and in other places in the New Testament, we find that Jesus is the foundation for the church. Peter, though eventually a powerful believer and witness for the Lord, was a sinful human just as we are. Therefore, he could never be the foundation for the church.

It's interesting to note that this is the first occurrence of the word "church" in the New Testament. It is the Greek word ekklesia, and the literal meaning is "a called-out assembly." This was a new concept for His disciples because Jesus was introducing an assembly that would include Jewish and Gentile believers. In His church, ethnic, cultural, racial, economic and all other natural distinctions would be unimportant! Wow! This was radical! Jesus is the Builder, the Head, and the Chief Cornerstone of His Church. We, as believers, are the "living stones" out of which it is built. We meet together in local assemblies, and we all belong to a body of believers everywhere--called the Body of Christ. (Wiersbe, p. 59)

The words "gates of Hades" symbolizes the organized power of death and Satan. "By His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ would conquer death, so that death would not be able to hold any of His people. (Wiersbe, p. 59)

When Jesus says to Peter, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven..." what does He mean? Keys open doors, and Jesus is giving Peter the privilege of carrying the message to open the "door of faith" to the Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles. (See Acts, 2, 8, and 10). Nowhere in scripture are we told that Peter stands at the "pearly gates" to allow or deny entry to anyone! (Wiersbe, p. 59)

Finally, we look at the words "bind" and "loose." Keep in mind that we are looking at an English translation of the Bible, and sometimes we need to depend on scholars who know the original languages, in this case Greek. "The Expanded Translation by Dr. Kenneth S. Wuest reads: 'And whatever you bind on earth (forbid to be done), shall have been already bound...in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth (permit to be done), shall have already been loosed in heaven.' Jesus did not say that God would obey what they did on earth, but that they should do on earth whatever God had already willed. The church does not get man's will done in heaven; it obeys God's will on earth." (Wiersbe, p. 59)

Jesus "warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ." It was not yet time for this great revelation.

Psalm 116:7-11
Recall that this is a psalm praising God for deliverance from trouble and even death. I am struck by v. 7 "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." "Be at rest..." How many times are we not really at peace? Is is possibly because we have forgotten that God has been good to us?

If we are believers, God has delivered our souls from eternal death! This truly is worthy of our praise! We should also trust Him to delivers our "eyes from tears and our feet from stumbling that we may walk before the Lord in the land of the living." Though heaven is our eventual home, we can trust God for our daily walk while we're in the "land of the living"!