Peter had just confessed the Lord as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Immediately then the Lord unfolds to Peter that there was to be something new founded here on that revelation, and this is what He calls the church or the assembly. It was to be built upon the solid rock of Peter’s confession of Christ. “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church.” Peter (whose name means “small stone”) was to be a living stone in this building. Then He refers to the unseen world: “and the gates of hell [hades] shall not prevail against it.” Death could not separate those who were a part of the church from its privileges. Death had separated His people of old from their earthly inheritance in the land of promise. Furthermore Satan, who wielded the power of death (Heb. 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)), could not destroy it. The true church of God would continue here in this world until He called it away. The devil might confuse the minds of men as to its true character, but it will abide in the sight of God as He founded it. Where Christ is looked at in Scripture as the builder, no false material is introduced into the church. But where man is looked at as the builder, there can be a great deal there that is not real. In our chapter Christ is the builder, and not Peter.
Next, the Lord gives Peter a special place for having received this communication — “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven” — that new dispensation which was about to begin on earth. There are no keys to the church. So Peter in Acts 2 uses one of the keys in opening the door to the Jews to enter into the new order of things. In Acts 10 he uses the other key to open the door to the Gentiles, so that they might enter in on the same basis as the Jews.
After this the Lord tells His disciples not to tell any one that He was the Christ or the Messiah. This is what He was to the Jews, and Peter had confessed Him as such. He had been rejected by them, and so for the time He drops His Jewish title. He was not the Messiah to the church but the Saviour. So from that time forth He speaks of His death and resurrection on the third day. This must all take place before He could begin to build His church. It was still a future thing and had to await the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Peter’s Confusion
Though Peter had had such a wonderful revelation from the Father as to Christ, he was slow to grasp its real meaning. In his thoughts he still clung to the Lord’s mission as the Messiah, the teacher of the people. So when the Lord spoke of His sufferings and death, he began to rebuke Him, saying, “Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee.” Little did Peter realize what sin was, nor did he think that it was for Peter that the Lord was going to the cross. Otherwise he would never have said what he did. The thought he expressed was of man and of Satan. He stood in the way of the Lord going to the cross and the Lord who had just called him Peter has to say to him, “Get thee behind Me, Satan ... for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” It shows how one can be used of God in a remarkable way. Through pride coming in and lack of dependence on the Lord, he can be used of Satan to break down what he had been used to build up.
Further Meditation
1. What was Peter’s great confession?
2. Give a few more examples of leaders who failed in their area of great strength.
3. Lectures on the Church by F. G. Patterson gives a clear and helpful presentation of the church in the New Testament.