Revelation Defeats Gates

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also 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 16:17-18)

God never builds a church on a man. He builds it on revelation. In fact, the Catholic Church has always taught that the church is built around one man, Peter, who they say was the first Pope. However, Jesus did not describe this at all. The church was never supposed to be built around a personality or a man because men are fallible. We mess things up.

Jesus was referring to the rock of revelation, which is that Jesus is the Messiah. There are two different Greek words for “rock” in the text. The first is where we get the word “Peter” from. In Greek, it is Petros, which means a small rock, movable, breakable. This is what Jesus called Peter. The second word is Petra, which means a massive, immovable boulder. Peter, the person, was not immovable, but the immovable part of the church is the revelation of who Jesus is. In fact, Jesus said He would “build” His church on this revelation.

That word build in Greek is oikodomeō, and it means to construct something sturdy and true. The church Jesus is building is sturdy because it is set on the revelation of His Lordship. Then Jesus gave us a guarantee of what it means to be part of His church. He said, “…the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Gates are not offensive weapons; they are defensive fortifications. Jesus was implying that we are not trying to be safe from hell, but that the church is an advancing force attacking areas that hell has tried to take for the enemy's purpose.

Practical Application

We are not hiding from hell; we are invading it with power and with truth. We do not cower to the culture around us; we confront it with love and action. When you have the revelation that Jesus is your Lord, you don’t quit when crisis comes or buckle under pressure. You declare with authority that you know who He is and you know who you are. So hell doesn't stand a chance. Say today, “I have victory in Christ!”

John 1:42; Matthew 13:17