“On This Rock I Will Build My Church”
Matthew 16:13-18

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost—August 24, 2014

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Our text is from today’s Gospel reading in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew.  The Apostle Peter confesses faith in Jesus as the Messiah: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus replies, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.  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.”

On the basis of these words, some teach that Peter himself is the rock on which the Christian Church is built.  But, the original Greek of the New Testament shows us that Jesus intended the exact opposite meaning.  In these words, Jesus is actually telling Peter, and us, that Peter is NOT the rock on which the Church is built.

“And I tell you, you are Peter.”  The Greek word for Peter is “petros,” the masculine form, which means a small stone or pebble, like this. “Petros” is the word for pebbles used as ammunition in sling shots.  “And I tell you, you are Peter,” “petros,” a pebble.  “And upon this rock I will build my church.”  In the second part of the verse, the Greek word for “rock” is not the masculine “petros” but the feminine “petra,” which means a large mountain of solid rock.  “Petra” is the word Jesus uses in the parable of the man who built his house upon the rock.

So, in this verse the New Testament actually uses two different Greek words, with distinctly different meanings, for “Peter” and “rock.”  But, because our English word “rock” does not have masculine and feminine forms, it is difficult to reproduce in English the Greek distinction between “petros,” a pebble, and “petra,” a massive rock.  The Living Bible puts it this way: “You are Peter, a stone; and upon this rock I will build my church.”  My own translation would be: “You are a pebble; but upon this rock I will build my church.”

The New Testament uses two different Greek words for “Peter” and “rock” for a reason: To make it clear that Peter is NOT the rock on which Christ’s Church is built.  So, then, what does Jesus mean when he says, “On this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”?  If Peter is not the rock, who or what is the rock on which Jesus builds his Church? 

The rock on which Jesus builds his Church is not the person of Peter, but the doctrine which Peter professes: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  The divinely revealed truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior, that is the foundation on which Christ’s Church is built.  The Christian Church exists for only one reason: To proclaim the Good News that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who lived a perfect life and died a substitutionary death to pay for our sins, and not only ours, but for the sins of the whole world.  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.”

“On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  “The gates of hell” symbolizes all the evil forces of the devil, his demons and evil angels, which he continually hurls against the Church of Christ, and against individual Christians.  As the Apostle James warns us, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” 

There have been Christians in the Iraq city of Mosul for nearly 2,000 years, since the earliest beginnings of Christianity.  Even after the rise of Islam about six centuries later, Mosul remained a Christian oasis, with hundreds of thousands of Christians, and dozens of ancient churches and monasteries.  But, when new Islamic terrorists took over the city last month, they marked all Christians’ houses with an “N” for “Nazarene,” followers of Jesus of Nazareth.  These Christians were given one week to convert to Islam or be executed—like the American reporter beheaded by these Islamic terrorists last week.

When you were confirmed, you were asked: “Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and [Christ’s] Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?”  Our Christian brothers and sisters in Mosul steadfastly refused to aban— their confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  They suffered all, even death, rather than fall away from it.  Most escaped the city, leaving behind everything: their homes, marked with an “N,” their jobs, businesses, all their worldly possessions.  Many of those who fled died in the harsh desert.  And those who didn’t flee but stayed behind in Mosul were massacred in horrific ways; crucified, beheaded, buried alive.

But, these brutal enemies of Christ and his Church did not win and will not win.  For, really it is these brave Iraqi Christian martyrs who have now triumphed.  As the book of Revelation says, they have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb; they have remained faithful unto death, and received the crown eternal life.

“On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Christians are suffering increasing hostility and persecution all around the world.   Even in our own country, it seems Bible-believing Christians are more and more being ridiculed, and marginalized, and punished for sticking to our beliefs.  Just last week a high school girl in Tennessee was suspended for saying “bless you” when a classmate sneezed, because, in violation of the First Amendment, any kind of religious language is forbidden—even saying “bless you” when someone sneezes!

In the midst of such hostility and persecution, the comforting promise of Jesus is: Satan will not win, the forces of evil will not triumph.  The Living Bible translates, “All the powers of hell shall not prevail against it.”  All the powers of hell shall not prevail against the doctrine that Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior.  All the powers of hell shall not prevail against the Church of Christ, built upon this doctrine.  And all the powers of hell shall not prevail against individual Christians who believe this doctrine and trust that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, our Savior.  As Martin Luther says in the hymn “A Mighty Fortress:”

            Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us,
            We tremble not, we fear no ill, they shall not overpower us.
            This world’s prince may still scowl fierce as he will,
            He can harm us none, he’s judged, the deed is done,
            One little word can fell him. 

What is the “one little word” the devil cannot stand against? I believe. I believe Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, my Savior.  I believe that all my sins are washed away by his blood.  I believe that he will take me to be with him in heaven.  James says, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith. . .  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  How do you resist and conquer the devil? With the one little word that makes him flee: I believe.  I believe Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, my Savior.  “On this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Just as Islam was created by Mohammed, most false religions are based on the life and teachings of some human: Confucius, Buddha, Joseph Smith.  The Christian faith is different, the Christian faith is unique, among all world religions.  For, the Christian faith is not based on Peter, or any other mere human, but on Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God.  That’s what Jesus means when he says to Peter, “This was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”  The Christian Church—and your individual faith as a Christian—is not built on man-made doctrine but on the solid rock of the divinely revealed truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son God, your Savior.

“’But what about you?’ Jesus asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’  Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’  Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.  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.’”

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  “On this rock I will build my church.”

Amen.