Upon
This Rock I Will Build My Church – Part One
(Matthew
16: 18)
Before addressing the specific subject in the title, I’d
like to re-state one of the truisms that all Christians and other Bible
students should keep in mind when reading the Scripture. That instruction was
given by Miles Coverdale, who accomplished the First Full English Bible Translation, back in the 16th
Century. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myles_Coverdale
) His advice was as follows:
“It shall greatly help ye to
understand the Scriptures if thou mark not only what is spoken or written, but
of whom and to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, with
what circumstances, considering what goeth before and what followeth
after.”
When applying those concepts to the subject
title, we note that our Lord Jesus was speaking with His Disciples late during
His Earthly Ministry. He had questioned them about the perceptions held by the
people of Israel, (after His having performed innumerable miracles among them,
to validate His Divinity,) saying: “Whom do men say that I the Son of Man
am?” After the Disciples responded, saying: “Some say that thou art John
the Baptist; some, Elias (Elijah); and others, Jeremias (Jeremiah), or one of
the prophets.” Then to test His Disciples knowledge, since they had been with
Him for three years, He asked: “But whom say ye that I am?” Then Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
The accuracy of Simon Peter’s answer prompted
the Lord Jesus to say: “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona (son of Jonah):
for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father, which is
in heaven.” “And I also say 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.” (Matthew
16: 13-18)
At this point I will try to show that the Lord’s
possible reference to Peter being identified as the “rock” upon which He would build
His church, was not directed to Gentiles, Christian or otherwise.
Further following Miles Coverdale’s
instruction, we should consider “what goeth before and what followeth after.”
Perhaps most importantly for Christians is to remember that early in
His Ministry, the Lord Jesus commanded His Disciples, saying, “Go
not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans
enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And as ye go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew
10: 1-7) This command by the Lord Jesus targets our understanding that He represented
to Israel the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12: 1-3; https://www.gotquestions.org/Abrahamic-covenant.html ) As Israel’s King / Messiah, He had come to establish His
Kingdom on the Earth, with Israel being the lead nation to evangelize the remaining
Gentile populations. (Zechariah 8: 20-23) Because of Israel’s rejection of
Jesus as their Messiah, this prophecy will not become reality until the Lord’s
Second Coming.
Now, returning to the subject: ”Upon this rock
I will build My church”, let’s look at what happened after Israel rejected the
Lord and facilitated His Crucifixion, death, burial and (fortunately for us today),
His resurrection.
The Scripture records early in the Book of
Acts that Peter and the other disciples remained true to the Lord’s
instructions to confine their ministry to the people of Israel, and the Gospel
of the Coming Kingdom. (Matthew 9: 35; Acts 1 through 7) The failure of Peter, Stephen and the other
disciples to get Israel to repent led the Ascended Lord to choose Saul of Tarsus
/ the Apostle Paul as His new “Chosen Vessel” to bring salvation to the Gentiles
through His new Gospel of Grace .(Acts 9: 15; 1
Corinthians 15: 1-4; Romans 10: 9-13) [Interestingly enough it was Peter who
first brought “salvation” to a group of Gentiles (the family of the Roman
Centurion Cornelius), but that was through the Gospel of the Kingdom
(Acts Chapter 10)]
Later in the Scripture there is reference
to very important aspects of the differences between the two Gospels. As Peter and other Jewish disciples from the
Jerusalem Church continued to evangelize the Nation of Israel towards the Gospel
of the Kingdom taught by the Lord Jesus, the Apostle Paul was beginning to make
in-roads with the pagan Gentiles towards accepting the new Gospel of Grace.
Paul’s successes with the Gentiles fostered intense opposition among the
traditional / conservative members of the Jerusalem Church. As soon as Paul created a small congregation
of new believers in his Gospel, (based on simply believing what the Lord accomplished
to bring salvation), the opposition “Judaizers” would descend on those
congregations to “correct” Paul’s message.
They insisted that salvation could only be achieved by obeying the Law
of Moses, as taught initially to Israel.
To address this major conflict, Paul took
his associates Barnabas and Titus to Jerusalem, to meet with the leaders of the
Church there, to resolve the issues. This momentous meeting has been
referred to as the “Jerusalem Council”. (Acts Chapter 15; Galatians Chapter
Two). The scripture notes that after much disputing, it was the critical
testimony of Peter that led to the break in the impasse, as he noted that he himself
had brought salvation to some Gentiles (as noted above). The landmark resolution
was that the Jerusalem Church leaders and members would continue to focus their
efforts to lead more Jews to recognizing the Lord’s role as their Messiah.
Further, they would no longer obstruct Paul’s efforts to bring salvation to
Gentiles through his Gospel of Grace.
It was clear that Peter was part
of the group who would remain focused on Israel. That is why it comes as no surprise that near the end of his
earthly journey when he wrote his final epistles he made it clear that he was
writing: “to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,” (1 Peter 1: 1) In other scriptural references, it is clear that “the
strangers scattered” were members of the Nation of Israel. (See Acts 8: 1, 4; 11:
19) Further, in his final letter, he acknowledged the critical importance of the
Gospel preached by the Apostle Paul, and strongly guided his followers to Paul’s
messages. (2 Peter 3: 14-18)
True to the end of his earthly journey, Peter
remained faithful to the well-being of his fellow members of the Nation of
Israel. Bible scholars have estimated the Peter died circa 67 – 68 AD. Within two years, in 70 AD, Israel’s Temple
was destroyed by the Roman General Titus, and the remaining Jews in Jerusalem
were killed or became part of the world-wide dispersion.
By sharing these scriptural references, I’m
trying to clarify that the “church” noted by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16: 18,
and in the title of this blogpost point to Peter’s role in the establishment
and continuation of the Nation of Israel’s “Jerusalem” Church, not the predominantly
Gentile, “Christian” Church founded by the Apostle Paul.
In Part Two of this blogpost, I will try to
address the obvious question: “If Peter was not “The RocK” upon which God would
build His church, who was?”
Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson
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