Who is the foundation of the church?

What do we look for in a foundation?

I do not know about you, but I have had little experience in building foundations. What I can say the foundation to a building is important. The key to a building staying up right is the foundation. So if a foundation is a key, who or what is our foundation?

Background Information

To understand our passage this morning we need to have an understanding of the book of Matthew and the city Jesus and the disciples where in.

The Gospel of Matthew is an anonymous document, however, church tradition from the 2nd century puts Matthew the apostle as the author and main source of the gospel. Some scholars say that the author of Matthew is not the apostle, but instead either a Jewish Christian who is a scribe, or a gentile Christian.

The intended readers of Matthew’s Gospel are Jewish-Christians of the Diaspora (Hagner, “Matthew,” n.p.). The Diaspora refers to a Hellenistic region, where the people speak Greek (Chamblin, “Matthew, Gospel Of,” n.p.).

Caesarea Philippi is a city at the base of Mount Hermon just off of the Jordan River (Ewing and Harrison, “Caesarea,” n.p.). The city and the surrounding area was given to Herod the Great to govern by Augustus and then became part of Philip’s tetrarchy, which Philip rebuilt for Augustus (Ewing and Harrison, “Caesarea,” n.p.). Under Philip it became the capital of the territory Paneas (Elwell and Beitzel, “Caesarea Philippi,” n.p.). The city was a center of Greco-Roman civilization and defiantly very pagan (Ewing and Harrison, “Caesarea,” n.p.).

What is Jesus asking his disciples?

From the passage we know Jesus is asking who do people or men say that “I the Son of man am”? In this question, Jesus gives them a clue. Jesus says he is the Son of Man. Secondly Jesus already knows who the world says he is. Jesus is asking his disciples to help them learn and understand who he is. Why, because not to long from now Jesus will go to the cross.

The response of the disciples is people say John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or other prophets. This is not the end of it. Jesus asks who they say he is?

Peter is the one that responds. Peter says “the Christ the Son of the living God.”

What is the significance of Peter’s response?

This is the third time since chapter 14 that Peter responds or ask a question to Jesus (Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, n.p.). This is the first time in the Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus is called Christ (Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, n.p.).

Peter not only calls Jesus, the Son of the living God, but Christ (Christos). The Greek word Χριστός (Christos) means one who is anointed and refers to the Messiah. Peter not only says that Jesus is the Messiah, but is acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God. Peter also is saying that God is living and alive, meaning God is not died and inactive as the idols of pagan/false religions.

Peter is making the connection for us that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah (Hagner, , n.p.). In Peter’s statement, he is letting us know that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. Jesus is more than a human figure, he is the high priest, and he is God (Hagner, , n.p.).

Peter is making it clear here, that Jesus is the one true God, and not like the false gods of Caesarea Philippi (Hagner, , n.p.).

[i]. Louw, Johannes P. and Eugene Albert Nida. No pages in the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. Ebook. New York: United Bible Societies, 1996.

So, how would you describe or say who Jesus is?

Who gave Peter the information about Jesus?

I do not think Peter had the internet back then so he could not google or ask Siri, Cortana, or Alexa. If we look at scripture we find the answer. In Jesus’ response he lets us know that his Father in Heaven revealed who he was through the Holy Spirit. So it was not flesh and blood.

What does Peter and rock mean?

The Greek word Πέτρος (Petros) means stone, rock, or rolling stone. Denotes that the stone is in one place today and another tomorrow. Refers to a name, like that which Christ gave Simon. Peter as an apostle clearly teaches that Christ the rock on which the church was built. Peter is to lead the disciples and the church.[i]

The Greek word πέτρα (pétra) means rock or refers to bedrock. Pétra denotes firmness, immovability, hardness, and lack of feeling. However, here rock is more than geographical names, stone formations, mountains, cliffs, pebbles, flints, or small stones. Rock is also a name for Yahweh. When looking at Matthew’s use of pétra, he is referring to pétra being a foundation. And therefore, Christ alone is rock. Since Christ is pétra, Peter (Petros) belongs to Christ, and through Peter comes the church. In the end, Peter starts God’s church, upon the foundation of Christ.

a. The Greek word πέτρα (pétra) means rock or refers to bedrock. Pétra denotes firmness, immovability, hardness, and lack of feeling. However, here rock is more than geographical names, stone formations, mountains, cliffs, pebbles, flints, or small stones. Rock is also a name for Yahweh. When looking at Matthew’s use of pétra, he is referring to pétra being a foundation. And therefore, Christ alone is rock. Since Christ is pétra, Peter (Petros) belongs to Christ, and through Peter comes the church. In the end, Peter starts God’s church, upon the foundation of Christ.[i]

[i]. Bullinger, Ethelbert W. No pages in the A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament. Ebook. London: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1908. Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. No pages in the A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Ebook. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 2000. Cullmann, Oskar. “Πέτρος, Κηφᾶς.” Edited by Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich. No pages in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Ebook. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1964–.

End Notes

Who then is the foundation of the church?

[i]. Hagner, D. A. “Matthew, Gospel according to.” Edited by Geoffery W. Bromiley. No pages in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Rev. ed. Ebook. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988. Meier, John P. “Matthew, Gospel of.” Edited by David Noel Freedman. No pages in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. Ebook. New York: Doubleday, 1992.

Jesus is the one who will ultimately build God’s church; meaning it is Christ in and through Peter. Peter is being called here to bring people to a relationship with God. What starts as a confession, turns into a calling.

What is our understanding of the church here in Matthew?

The Greek word for church is ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia). There are two senses: assembly and church. From the two senses there is a distinction between the church as a body of believers and an individual congregation. Outside of the Jewish Christian understanding of ekklēsia, the meaning refers to an assembly or gathering of people for a legislative body. The New Testament understanding that applies here is the church is a gathering of God’s people.

[i]. Nolland, John. The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text. No pages in the International Greek Testament Commentary. Ebook. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans, 2005.

What will not prevail again the church?

[i]. Schmidt, Karl Ludwig. “Καλέω, Κλῆσις, Κλητός, Ἀντικαλέω, Ἐγκαλέω, Ἔνκλημα, Εἰσκαλέω, Μετακαλέω, Προκαλέω, Συγκαλέω, Ἐπικαλέω, Προσκαλέω, Ἐκκλησία.” Edited by Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich. No pages in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Ebook. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1964–.

The gates of hell ().

Jesus is making it clear to the disciples that not even death will stop God’s church from being built (Hagner, , n.p.). Also, Satan has been defeated so, even he cannot stop God’s church (Hagner, , n.p.)

c. Therefore, God’s church will never die or come to an end (Hagner, , n.p.).

Therefore, God’s church will never die or come to an end (Hagner, , n.p.).

What keys are given to Peter?

The keys of the kingdom of heaven ().

Here the kingdom refers to royalty and means God’s kingdom (Hagner, , n.p.). The way to admittance into God’s kingdom is through forgiveness of sins, which Peter and the apostles teach (Hagner, , n.p.). Jesus gives authority to teach and preach God’s Word to Peter and tells him, he has access to God’s power (Hagner, , n.p.; ).

Peter is to point people to Christ, because Christ is the ultimate judge (Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, n.p.).

Did Jesus want the disciples to talk about him being the Messiah? No. But this should not stop us.

What should we take from this lesson?

Jesus is in fact the living God. The Messiah!!! Jesus is the foundation our cornerstone. He longs to be in a relationship with each of us. Our foundation should be on Christ alone and no one or anything else. Through Peter the church was started. Not everyone will believe or except Christ. Peter started the church on Christ, who is the solid rock on which we should all stand. This is important because everyone needs to know the Gospel message. May we tell the whole world who Jesus is.