On this rock I will build my church

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ 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. 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. 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.’ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

- Matthew 16:13-20

My study bible has, as it does so often, quite an interesting note on this passage. It makes me think. "Who do you say that I am?" says my study bible, is the greatest question we can ever face. It goes on to state that "Peter's ringing confession, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, is an insight given to Peter by the Father. Jesus' messianic identity and divinity, the mystery hidden from eternity cannot be truly known by human reason, but only by God's revelation." It then cites 1 Corinthians 12:3 as reference: "Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says 'Jesus is accursed!' and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit."

In the original Greek of Matthew's gospel, Peter says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." I think therefore, it's a good idea to consider the meaning of "Christ." My study bible continues: "Christ means 'the Anointed One.' Christ is the Son of the living God, whom the Father has anointed with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). David says, 'Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions' (Ps. 45:7). Isaiah, speaking in the name of the Lord, says, 'The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me' (Is. 61:1).'"

In light of this understanding of Christ, we can continue with Jesus' words to Peter. ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 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.’ Jesus uses a play on the word for "rock" in Aramaic and Greek (petros/petra). It's interesting to me that it is once again Peter who is speaking out, as we have seen in the past several readings. But Peter/rock is the confession of faith, the union and bond formed through this faith and this recognition - this ability to perceive what is revealed by the Father. What we have here, then, is a tremendous bond in union and in recognition and thereby the creation of relationship between the Father and the body of Christ, the Church. This is what is conveyed, made real, by Peter's confession. This is the rock of faith.

My study bible notes that in the Old Testament, "gates" suggest a fortified city. Hades, or hell, is suggestive of death and the powers of death. Therefore we are to understand that this great rock, this confession by virtue of union on some level with the Father, this revelation that is recognized within the believer, will shatter the gates, the stronghold of hell. That is, all the powers of evil, of death, of limitation, of slavery.

In all the gospels (again, according to my study bible's notes), church is mentioned twice by Jesus, here and in Matthew 18:17, describing the true Israel whose citizenship is heavenly. This is the body of Christ - what my study bible calls "the divine-human organism." The note continues to say that to this church "comes the call of Jesus for the whole of mankind to abide with Him and in Him (Eph. 1:23)."

As we deepen our understanding of Jesus and his ministry through these gospels, we are drawn ever-deeply into an awareness of relationship. In this case, we come to understand the power of the bonds of that relationship in faith. Jesus continues, '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.' So, we come to understand the great depth of this relationship, and equally its invincibility, its tremendous strength through this process of bonding. What has been revealed and accepted in the creature via the Father, expressed through a confession of faith, holds the keys to the kingdom. It is such a powerful bond that it breaks the gates of hell. Moreover, what is bound on earth via such relationship has such depth, enters such dimension of spiritual reality, that whatever is bound or loosed (also words of relationship) on earth is also bound or loosed in heaven.

We are given tremendous access to all spiritual reality through this relationship, through true faith. Does this not teach us even more than all that has come before of the tremendous, precious need for discernment? Shall we not take it seriously that what we put our faith into can create such tremendous opportunity, spiritual freedom and privilege? What does it mean to be bound via relationship that is this strong, this potent and this far-reaching? Our covenant is not merely a personal confession, it is a revelation of relationship even to the Father. It is over this that Jesus rejoices. I am reminded, as deliberate metaphor, of the ways in which prayer ropes (used for praying the Jesus Prayer) are made. Knots, rather than beads, are used for a prayer rope. Each knot (forming a station on the rope) is made up of nine knots in its interior - 3x3, a triple Trinity, standing in for our relationship, our bond to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The monks who fashion these ropes do so with this union, this bond, in mind: what is made in such confession is unbreakable, and strong enough to smash the gates of hell and their figurative allusion to all that opposes this kingdom and what it can do for mankind. I will remember this passage when I use my prayer rope in future.