"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."
{Matthew 16:18} (NIV)
Who is Jesus? This is the question every single person will have to answer. Who do YOU say that I am? Peter’s answer is that Jesus is the Christ. Christ means Messiah which means anointed servant of God. Specifically, the anointed servant of God who will bring salvation for God’s people. There were many anointed servants of God, and will be many in the future, but the Messiah stands head and shoulders above all of the others, because of the nature of the salvation that He will bring, and because of His nature, as the only begotten Son of God. He will bring salvation that lasts, and a kingdom that endures!
The name 'Jesus' means “the LORD saves”. It was given to the child Mary gave birth to because “He will save His people from their sins.” (Mt1:21) The Lord Jesus commends Peter for his answer and then tells Peter about something brand new, something that Peter had never heard about before. The CHURCH! Literally the ASSEMBLY. What was this assembly? Who would be in it? How would it be governed? How often would it assemble? These questions were not addressed by our Lord. Instead He tells Peter and us that the ASSEMBLY rests upon the belief and confession that Jesus is the Christ.
Friend, are we part of the CHURCH? Do we, honestly before God, believe that Jesus is the anointed Servant of God, sent to save us from our sins? Then rejoice friend, for we are blessed, by the Creator God.
The Jewish Messiah (Christ) was especially the anointed king the Jews expected would rule over a glorified Israel (and throw out the Romans). And the church Jesus introduces in Mt. 16 is "my church;" Jesus is the king over it, the one governing it. And it is associated with his kingdom, and Peter, who will be given its keys (to bind or loose). This same binding and loosing is given to all the disciples in Mt. 18:18, in a context of casting out of the church those who refuse to repent from sin when they are confronted with it. Back in Mt. 16:24, this church, or kingdom of disciples under Jesus as king, is those who deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him.
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