The Church or the Rock?
By Pastor Ivan L. Burgener
"And
I also, I say unto thee that thou are Peter and upon this rock will I
build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
(Matthew 16:18 revised)
The
Lord spoke to Peter about a rock and a church and said the "gates
of hell" would not prevail. But what does that mean?
To
many this is the foundation passage upon which to base the teaching
that Peter is the head of the church and that the gates of hell will
not prevail against the church. But that interpretation is based upon
assumptions.
First,
is Peter the rock? Peter's Greek name is PETROS, a masculine name
meaning a "stone," such as a pebble one might toss or
throw. The Greek word for "rock" is PETRA, a feminine noun
meaning a massive rock or boulder-something that cannot be lifted or
that will not budge. The Lord said one could build a house on a
"rock" and even carve a tomb therein. See Matthew 7:24
& 27:60. Peter was not the rock and able commentators who
read the Greek Language have known better.
But
what about the church? Did the Lord really say "the gates of
hell would not prevail against the church"? His words were, "the
gates of hell shall not prevail against IT." We all know "it"
is a pronoun, but we do not all know that "it" refers to
the church. Many have assumed so just like they assumed the Peter or
his confession was the rock. But are we reading into or out of the
verse?
One
cannot tell by any English translation but the Greek pronoun here
translated "it" is not neuter, but feminine and singular.
Our word "her" would be the equivalent, but that would not
be good English.
Since
every pronoun must have its antecedant, our question is. Which noun
in the sentence is both feminine and singular? There are two
candidates: rock and church! Since both appear to be equally
qualified, we must consider which fits the text and the context.
What
would it mean to say, "the gates of hell shall not prevail
against the church"? Or, what would it mean to say, "the
gates of hell shall not prevail against the rock"? And to what
does the term "rock" refer? Surely Christ was the Rock that
followed Israel in the wilderness and the Messiah was to be the Rock
of their salvation. People want to make Peter's confession to be the
rock, but which is greater, his confession or the Rock Himself?
What
are "the gates of hell"? In either case, what would it mean
for them to "prevail"? Would you know the gates of hell if
you saw them? What do they look like? Are they double-wide doors with
hinges and latches? These questions are posed to help us consider
what the Lord was talking about.
Pursuing
the word "gates," from Genesis 19:1 we learn that "Lot
sat in the gate" of the city of Sodom and in verse 9, they said
he was a judge indicating a position of authority. In Proverbs 31:23
the virtuous woman's husband was "known in the gates, when he
sitteth among the elders of the land." Further tracing of
figurative uses of "gates" will confirm that this word
indicates authority or power, such as one might have in government.
Our
word "hell" comes from the Greek "hades" and its
Hebrew equivalent "sheol." But both these words are often
translated death or grave. For example in I Corinthians 15:55 this
same word, HADES, is alternatively translated "death" and
"grave." But when one combines these two words, "gates"
and "hell," the phrase "gates of hell" becomes
the "power of death" or "authority of the grave."
The
idea of the "power of death" failing to prevail against the
church is vague and uncertain. But to say that "the power of
death" will not prevail against the Rock (Christ) clearly
announces His resurrection! For the "power of death (or grave)"
to prevail against Christ, would mean that the grave would hold Him
and not let Him rise! That could not be!
King James Bible
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