It doesn’t always pay to be perfectly honest. Take for example the Dentist who was leaning over his patient with a large needle in hand and confided to him: “Now you may feel a tiny sting.” But then he alternated, “On the other hand, you may feel like you’ve had a crowbar thrust down your throat and wrenched from side to side!” Now if I were his patient, his surgery would be left in ruins as I fled through whatever opening in the wall presented itself first!
When we are speaking to people about God, some words and topics scare people off before we have a chance to introduce any meaningful spiritual message. Sometimes we suffer from a fear of offending others, of stepping out of line with them. Sometimes we step back from any controversy.
In our quest to be accepted by others, we may fail to give the Christian message at all. I know I often feel like this after I have seen another opportunity slip away from me. One of the things which impresses me most when I read Ellen White, is the urgency she feels for communicating to lost humanity the message God has entrusted to us[1].
Sometimes even Jesus kept things quiet though. In Mark 1:44 he healed a leper, then warned him to tell no one. Another time he told the disciples not to tell anyone He was the Christ, though I am sure Jesus had his reasons. Jesus had a strategy in mind, which probably separates him from us already! He had a God-focused agenda. Often we don’t even think about a strategy. The Bible says Jesus “went about doing good.” (Acts 10:38) Most of us are happy just going about! We forget the “doing good” part.
I would like you to turn to this passage where Jesus warned the disciples not to tell anyone He was Christ.
Matt. 16:13-19
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” NRSV
This passage has puzzled Christians down through the years for a number of reasons. Catholics have used it to authenticate the position of the Pope as the head of the Church on earth. They say Peter was here appointed as the first Pope. Of course, Protestants protested this! What else would they do?
I don’t think Jesus has anything to say here about who would be the head of the Church on earth:
1. Firstly, because he gives no indication of any line of succession down through the ages;
2. Secondly, He almost immediately rebukes Peter as if he were Satan himself, in verse 23. Peter is put on the same level as all other disciples;
3. Thirdly, Jesus uses identical language as he uses here, in Matthew 18:15-20, which he directs at all the disciples, regarding Church discipline.
As we shall see, the real meaning is much removed from this issue. This verse had always seemed to me to be a promise from Jesus, put in defensive terms. It seemed to be saying, 'I will establish my Church and I will not allow the powers of hell (or Satan), to overpower it (or break in on it).' So, it seemed to be a protective promise for the fledgling Church in a turbulent world. The Church was somewhere we could shelter against the onslaught of the evil world outside. Even on this understanding it has been a reassuring text, but I am convinced it should be read differently.
Jesus knew that his work on earth was rapidly reaching its climax. Yet he could see that even his closest disciples, the chosen twelve, did not yet understand what his mission was really about.
His disciples were still of the opinion that Jesus would soon reveal his true colours to Jew and Roman alike, as the triumphant Messiah, who would break the Roman yoke with a revolutionary and bloody Judaic movement.
Jesus had decided to take the twelve aside for a while, into the pagan region of Caesarea Phillippi, well out of their old stomping grounds, and away from any Judean influences. Perhaps Jesus wanted to show them that the world they were to work in was much removed from the narrowness of Judaism. He was about to unfold for them events concerning his crucifixion that would shock and dismay them.
As a prelude to breaking the truth of His betrayal and suffering (16:21ff), He asked the twelve the question, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
The disciples gave the answer in verse fourteen, to which Jesus asked again, "But what about you? Who do you say I am?"
Peter, not one to hesitate, replied, "You are the Messiah (Christ), the Son of the living God."
Peter, and the others, correctly understood that Jesus was the Messiah, but they didn’t understand His mission fully. Later, the fundamental centrality of Jesus sacrificial life and death would dawn on the disciples, but for now, in verse 17, Jesus applauds their conviction.
Look how he centralises this truth in verse 18.
Matt. 16:18a "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church..." (Πέτρος, stone or small rock; πέτρα - bedrock, large rock).
Jesus was here making a wordplay. He was addressing Peter – which means, rolling stone, or small rock – and saying that on the bedrock of a confession of faith in himself as Messiah, his Church would be built.
Every building must have a foundation, and this was the place Jesus would start building. If we want further evidence of the meaning here, we should look at Acts chapter four, where Peter confirms this meaning by quoting Psalm 118 to the Elders of Israel.
Acts 4:11, 12 (read)
"...'the stone you builders rejected...has become the cornerstone.' " Peter went on, "...there is no other name...given to men by which we must be saved." So, Jesus himself, and confession in him, is the foundation that the Church must be built on, not Peter.
Matt. 16:18 b
"...on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."
The RSV says ‘the powers of death shall not prevail against it.’ In an offensive sense – ‘will not stand before it’.
The meaning here is not that the gates of Hades might possibly overcome the church. How could that be? Hades, to the ancient near eastern world, was the mythical abode of the spirits of the dead, or to believers, the grave. The OT equivalent is Sheol.
Hades, in ancient Greek myth was the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. The mythology was well known among the Mesopotamians, Egyptians and Greeks, and is alluded to several times in the OT.
Jesus cannot be saying that “death” will not prevail against the church. That is illogical. According to the myth, the entrance to ‘Sheol’ (OT), or the New Testament variant ‘Hades’, had seven sets of gates guarding it. The inference is quite clear. Once you enter here, you do not escape, imprisonment is complete. Your exit is barred by seven sets of gates. Let’s look at some texts.
Job 38:16–17 (NRSV) — 16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? 17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? [cf. Job 17:13a, 15, 16 - Gates of death, or gates of Sheol]
Isaiah 38:9–10 (NRSV) — 9 A writing of King Hezekiah of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness: 10 I said: In the noontide of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years.
These are the gates Jesus is alluding to. Jesus knows it is a myth, as did Job and Isaiah. Jesus used commonly held myths before to teach something, like when he told the parable of Abraham and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31.
Jesus is using this saying figuratively. The “gates of Hades” is equivalent to the 'precinct of death and demons', or as Adam Clark has it, the "...powers of the invisible world."[2]
What this text is saying, is that armed with a belief in Jesus as Messiah, the Saviour of all who will confess Him, the gates of the precinct of death will fall off their hinges. This is not a text saying 'I will make the church protected property’, a “no-go” zone for Satan. It is a text telling us to take the fight up to Satan, break down the gates of Hades itself, meaning the abode of death and demons.
It does not carry a defensive meaning; it is an offensive text. Take the game right up to them, Jesus says.
You know, in reality Satan should feel like the little dictator who was getting annoyed that no one was using the new postage stamps bearing his portrait. He asked his postmaster why the stamps were not being used? The postmaster shifted uneasily and postulated that the stamps were not sticking.
Seizing a stamp, the dictator licked it and stuck it on an envelope. “Look!” he shouted. “It sticks perfectly!” The postmaster faltered for a moment, then gingerly explained, “Well sir, the truth is that the people have been spitting on the wrong side of the stamp.”
I remember watching the men's 100 metre Olympic final in Sydney in 2002. Those sprinters something else, aren't they? They’re built like Greek gods, and their sprinting speed is just amazing. But the thing I found more astounding was Maurice Green and Ato Bolden kneeling down at the end of the 100-metre Olympic track and praying together. Does anyone remember that? Here were two powerful men – no one could call them wimps, or at least not within ear-shot – attributing their speed and success to God, in full view of over four billion spectators. These men had no spiritual cringe.
Jesus says in Matthew 11:12, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of God has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”
We are not to be a cowering, whimpering lot. We are to be forceful about our Christian walk.
In the parallel passage to the one we are considering this morning, Luke 9:26, Jesus says, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory..."
Take the game right up to them, is the message in Matthew 16:18. The Greek word used here for 'prevail against,' literally means, in its negative sense, "will not be strong against."
It is the “gates of hades”, the ‘precinct of death and evil’ that will not be strong against believers armed with the confession of Jesus as Lord of their life. ‘Hell’ is nervous! The devils tremble at a confession of Jesus as Lord. The hinges of the gates guarding the precinct of evil are weakened every time a believer confesses Christ.
I was watching the Australian Tennis Open in 2005, when Maria Sharopova and the American Lee-Waters, were playing. It was a great game. The Russian, Sharopova, had a better game overall, but the American girl was fighting right to the last point. Sharopova was wearing a crucifix around her neck, and I think sometimes people wear them much like a good luck charm, but obviously not Sharopova. When she finally slammed the winning point home, before she turned to acknowledge the crowd, she looked skyward and blew a kiss to God! It was great to see someone at that level acknowledge God as first in their lives. Only then did she turn to blow kisses to each quarter of the crowd.
Whenever we fail to keep God as number one in our lives, which is quite often, we break the first commandment. We possibly break it on a daily basis.
Matt. 16:19a “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven..."
When the Jews made a man a 'doctor of the Law,' they put into his hand the key of the closet in the temple where the sacred scrolls were kept, signifying that they gave him authority to teach and explain the Scriptures to the people.[3] These were akin to the keys Jesus was speaking about, and He was giving them to the church, that is, to the 'laity'. He was not, as the Jews had done, binding them up in the bureaucracy of the priests and scribes, or pastors for that matter.
The key to the kingdom of heaven is turned every time a person makes that confession of faith in Jesus.
Have you made that confession for yourself? You need to make that confession to be part of God’s people? You can say, right now, “Lord I want to be part of your kingdom, I want you to be the immovable centre of my life, and I want to live with you for eternity.”
And as you enter through that ‘narrow gate’, tell someone you pass, what you have decided. Because there will invariably be many jostling close to you trying to dissuade you. Tell them your confession.
The blessings of the kingdom will be yours when you turn that key. They will be yours for as long as you hold onto them. They will be yours till Jesus comes to raise you and bring the consummated kingdom to us. And they are yours to share with those around you.
Jesus has given us the keys of His kingdom. But the Bible tells us Jesus also holds the keys to hades, or the grave. Look at,
Rev. 1:17b, 18 "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."
The resurrected Christ has already raided the realm of the powers of darkness. On that resurrection Sunday, Christ raided the place of the dead and changed the face of the tomb forever, for all those who have faith in his coming. At dawn the S-O-N of God shone out to lighten the dank space of the Tomb.
You may sleep; they may bury you; but you can’t die if you are in Christ. You will never die – never die! “For Christ has abolished death.” 2 Tim. 1:10 tells us. You have everlasting life. And you have it now.
Jesus left the fragrance of the aromatic spices behind in that Tomb so the grave need never more hold a stench for us. He left behind his linen garments so that you and I can be clothed with his righteousness. He left us with his angels in the tomb, symbols that he would soon return with all the angels of heaven, to open every tomb with his name on the occupant’s heart. He even left a napkin there that covered his face, to wipe away every tear from our eyes. (Jn 20:7)
The earthquake that shook the earth, opened many other graves, and tore the Temple curtain from top to bottom, symbolised that the way into the presence of the Father was opened to us through Christ. It demonstrated that all in Christ will soon be raised with those first-fruits of the resurrection.
In John 5:25 Jesus said, "...the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God ...and live."
Conclusion:
The resurrected Christ has already raided the realm of the powers of darkness, and he will raid the place of the dead again when he returns, and that time will come soon enough. Jesus' key to the gates of Hades resides in His own resurrection, and it is His death and resurrection that also gives the church the keys and power to raid the precinct of evil to bring to life the spiritual dead.
The only way many of the spiritually dead will hear Jesus voice now is if you become his mouthpiece. It’s not that hard. The more you attempt it, the easier it becomes. Take a chance; kneel down at the end of the race track and pray in front of the world! Sharopova blew kisses to God. Each of our responses will be different. Don’t be ashamed to confess Jesus – and he won’t be ashamed to confess your name.
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