Matthew 16:18
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
And I tell you
This phrase signifies a direct and authoritative declaration from Jesus. The Greek word for "tell" is "λέγω" (legō), which implies a solemn pronouncement. Jesus is making a significant revelation to Peter, underscoring the importance of what follows. In the context of the Gospel, this is a pivotal moment where Jesus is establishing foundational truths about His mission and the future of His followers.

that you are Peter
The name "Peter" comes from the Greek "Πέτρος" (Petros), meaning "rock" or "stone." This is a play on words, as Jesus is about to speak about a "rock" upon which He will build His church. Historically, Peter, originally named Simon, was given this name by Jesus, signifying his role and character. In a conservative Christian perspective, Peter is seen as a leading figure among the apostles, whose faith and confession are foundational to the early church.

and on this rock
The Greek word for "rock" is "πέτρα" (petra), which refers to a large, immovable stone or bedrock. There is much theological discussion about what "this rock" refers to. From a conservative viewpoint, it is often interpreted as the confession of faith that Peter made just prior, acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah. This confession is seen as the bedrock of Christian faith, upon which the church is built.

I will build My church
The term "church" comes from the Greek "ἐκκλησία" (ekklesia), meaning "assembly" or "congregation." This is the first mention of the church in the New Testament, indicating a new community of believers that Jesus Himself will establish. The use of "My" emphasizes ownership and personal investment by Jesus in this community. Historically, this marks the beginning of the Christian church, distinct from the Jewish synagogue.

and the gates of Hades
"Hades" in Greek mythology is the realm of the dead, and in Jewish thought, it is often equated with Sheol, the place of the departed. The "gates" symbolize power and authority. In this context, it suggests the forces of death and evil. From a conservative Christian perspective, this phrase reassures believers that the power of death and evil will not overcome the church.

will not prevail against it
The Greek word for "prevail" is "κατισχύω" (katischuo), meaning to overpower or conquer. This promise from Jesus is a declaration of the church's ultimate victory over evil. Historically, despite persecution and trials, the church has endured and grown, fulfilling this promise. This assurance inspires confidence and hope in believers, affirming that the church, founded on the truth of Christ, will stand firm against all adversities.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
The speaker of this verse, Jesus is the central figure of the New Testament, the Son of God, and the Messiah.

2. Peter (Simon Peter)
Originally named Simon, Jesus renames him Peter (Petros in Greek, meaning "rock"), signifying his foundational role in the early church.

3. The Church
The community of believers that Jesus refers to as "My church," indicating ownership and divine authority.

4. The Rock
A term that has been interpreted in various ways, often seen as referring to Peter himself, his confession of faith, or Christ as the cornerstone.

5. The Gates of Hades
Symbolic of the powers of death and evil, which Jesus declares will not overcome His church.
Teaching Points
The Foundation of the Church
Jesus establishes the church on a solid foundation, symbolized by Peter's role and confession. This foundation is unshakeable because it is rooted in Christ's authority and truth.

The Authority of Christ
Jesus' declaration that the gates of Hades will not prevail against the church assures believers of His ultimate authority and victory over evil and death.

The Role of Believers
As part of the church, believers are called to be active participants in building and strengthening the community of faith, grounded in the teachings of Christ and the apostles.

The Assurance of Victory
Believers can live with confidence and hope, knowing that the church will endure through all trials and opposition, as promised by Jesus.

Unity and Community
The church is a collective body, and believers are encouraged to work together in unity, supporting one another as they grow in faith and witness to the world.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding Peter's role as "the rock" influence your view of church leadership and authority today?

2. In what ways can you contribute to building and strengthening your local church community?

3. How does the assurance that "the gates of Hades will not prevail" impact your personal faith and response to challenges?

4. What are some practical ways you can live out the unity and community that Jesus envisions for His church?

5. How do the connections to other scriptures, such as Ephesians 2:19-22 and 1 Peter 2:4-8, deepen your understanding of the church's foundation and purpose?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Ephesians 2:19-22
This passage describes the church as being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone, reinforcing the idea of a strong, divinely established foundation.

1 Peter 2:4-8
Peter himself refers to believers as living stones being built into a spiritual house, with Christ as the cornerstone, highlighting the communal and spiritual nature of the church.

Revelation 1:18
Jesus holds the keys of death and Hades, emphasizing His authority over life and death, and His power to protect the church.
Castle of Bahias Suggesting the Rock FigureA. Thomson.Matthew 16:18
Christianity IndestructibleRichard Roberts.Matthew 16:18
Christ's ChurchT. Raffles, D. D.Matthew 16:18
I Will Build, My ChurchJ. Morison, D. D.Matthew 16:18
My ChurchJ. Morison, D. D.Matthew 16:18
The Church a BuildingBishop J. C. Ryle.Matthew 16:18
The Church Improved by TrialS. Lee, M. A.Matthew 16:18
The Church of ChristAnon.Matthew 16:18
The Church Upon the RockG. S. Green, D. D.Matthew 16:18
The Church Which Christ BuildsBishop Ryle.Matthew 16:18
The Church's SecurityW. Denton, M. A.Matthew 16:18
The Foundation and Perpetuity of the ChurchG. Brooks.Matthew 16:18
The Foundation of the ChurchJ. C. Jones.Matthew 16:18
The Permanence of Christ's ChurchA. J. Kynett, D. D.Matthew 16:18
The Perpetuity and Safety of the Church of ChristJ. G. Lorimer.Matthew 16:18
The Promise to PeterJohn PosterMatthew 16:18
The Rock on Which the Church is BuiltW.F. Adeney Matthew 16:18
The Rock TruthR. Tuck Matthew 16:18
The True Christian ChurchThe late Pastor Verny.Matthew 16:18
The Ultimate Defeat of the Enemies of the ChurchT. Mortimer, B. D.Matthew 16:18
The Unity of the ChurchJohn Henry NewmanMatthew 16:18
The Visibility of the True ChurchS. Lee, M. A.Matthew 16:18
Peter's ConfessionMarcus Dods Matthew 16:13-19
The True ConfessionJ.A. Macdonald Matthew 16:13-20
People
Elias, Elijah, Jeremiah, Jeremias, Jesus, John, Jonah, Jonas, Peter, Simon
Places
Caesarea Philippi, Jerusalem, Magadan
Topics
Assembly, Based, Build, Church, Death, Declare, Doors, Gates, Hades, Hell, Overcome, Overpower, Peter, Powers, Prevail, Rock, Triumph
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Matthew 16:18

     2212   Christ, head of church
     5213   assembly
     5240   building
     5288   dead, the
     5292   defence, divine
     5317   foundation
     5323   gate
     7026   church, leadership
     7950   mission, of Christ
     8441   goals
     8465   progress
     9511   hell, place of punishment
     9530   Hades

Matthew 16:13-20

     4354   rock

Matthew 16:15-19

     5113   Peter, disciple

Matthew 16:17-18

     5262   commendation

Matthew 16:18-19

     7024   church, nature of
     7027   church, purpose

Library
October 14. "Get Thee, Behind Me, Satan" (Matt. xvi. 23).
"Get thee, behind me, Satan" (Matt. xvi. 23). When your old self comes back, if you listen to it, fear it, believe it, it will have the same influence upon you as if it were not dead; it will control you and destroy you. But if you will ignore it and say: "You are not I, but Satan trying to make me believe that the old self is not dead; I refuse you, I treat you as a demon power outside of me, I detach myself from you"; if you treat it as a wife would her divorced husband, saying: "You are nothing
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Christ Foreseeing the Cross
'From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto His disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.'--MATT. xvi. 21. The 'time' referred to in the text was probably a little more than six months before the Crucifixion, when Jesus was just on the point of finally leaving Galilee, and travelling towards Jerusalem. It was an epoch in His ministry. The hostility of the priestly party in
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Divine Christ Confessed, the Suffering Christ Denied
'When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Phllippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? 14. And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Unity of the Church.
"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."--Matt. xvi. 18. Too many persons at this day,--in spite of what they see before them, in spite of what they read in history,--too many persons forget, or deny, or do not know, that Christ has set up a kingdom in the world. In spite of the prophecies, in spite of the Gospels and Epistles, in spite of their eyes and their ears,--whether it be their sin or
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

The Human Jesus.
God's meaning of "Human": man's fellow--two meanings of word human--original meaning--natural limitations. The Hurt of sin: sin's added limitations. Our Fellow: Jesus truly human--up to first standard--His insistence--perfect in His humanness--fellowship in sin's limitations--hungry, Matthew 16:5. John 4:6-8.--tired, John 4:6. Mark 4:38.--poverty, Matthew 13:55. Mark 6:3.--hard toil, John 19:25-27.--homeless, Luke 4:16-30. Matthew 8:20. Luke 9:58.--discipline of waiting. There's More of God
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

Words with a Freshly Honed Razor-Edge.
Now please group these six sweeping statements in your mind and hold them together there. Then notice carefully this fact. These words are not spoken to the crowds. They are spoken to the small inner group of twelve disciples. Jesus talks one way to the multitude. He oftentimes talks differently to these men who have separated themselves from the crowd and come into the inner circle. And notice further that before Jesus spoke these words to this group of men He had said something else first. Something
S. D. (Samuel Dickey) Gordon—Quiet Talks on Prayer

The Threefold Cord of Jesus' Life.
Think for a moment into Jesus' human life down here. His marvellous activities for those few years over which the world has never ceased to wonder. Then His underneath hidden-away prayer-life of which only occasional glimpses are gotten. Then grouping around about that sentence of His--"I do always the things that are pleasing to Him"--in John's gospel, pick out the emphatic negatives on Jesus' lips, the "not's": not My will, not My works, not My words. Jesus came to do somebody's else will. The
S. D. (Samuel Dickey) Gordon—Quiet Talks on Prayer

The Important Question
"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Matthew 16:26 1. There is a celebrated remark to this effect, (I think in the works of Mr. Pascal,) that if a man of low estate would speak of high things, as of what relates to kings or kingdoms, it is not easy for him to find suitable expressions, as he is so little acquainted with things of this nature; but if one of royal parentage speaks of royal things, of what concerns his own or his father's kingdom, his language
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Signs of the Times
"Ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" Matthew 16:3. 1. The entire passage runs thus: "The Pharisees also, with the Sadducees, came, and tempting, desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Twelfth Day. Fidelity in Rebuke.
"The Lord turned and looked upon Peter."--Luke, xxii. 61. Jesus never spake one unnecessarily harsh or severe word. He had a Divine sympathy for the frailties and infirmities of a tried, and suffering, and tempted nature in others. He was forbearing to the ignorant, encouraging to the weak, tender to the penitent, loving to all,--yet how faithful was He as "the Reprover of sin!" Silent under His own wrongs, with what burning invectives did He lay bare the Pharisees' masked corruption and hypocrisy!
John R. Macduff—The Mind of Jesus

"Take My Yoke Upon You, and Learn of Me," &C.
Matt. xi. 20.--"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me," &c. Self love is generally esteemed infamous and contemptible among men. It is of a bad report every where, and indeed as it is taken commonly, there is good reason for it, that it should be hissed out of all societies, if reproaching and speaking evil of it would do it. But to speak the truth, the name is not so fit to express the thing, for that which men call self love, may rather be called self hatred. Nothing is more pernicious to a man's
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Edwards -- Spiritual Light
Jonathan Edwards, the New England divine and metaphysician, was born at East Windsor, Connecticut, in 1703. He was graduated early from Yale College, where he had given much attention to philosophy, became tutor of his college, and at nineteen began to preach. His voice and manner did not lend themselves readily to pulpit oratory, but his clear, logical, and intense presentation of the truth produced a profound and permanent effect upon his hearers. He wrote what were considered the most important
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 3

Of Sufferings
Of Sufferings Be patient under all the sufferings which God is pleased to send you: if your love to Him be pure, you will not seek Him less on Calvary, than on Tabor; and, surely, He should be as much loved on that as on this, since it was on Calvary He made the greater display of His Love for you. Be not like those, who give themselves to Him at one season, and withdraw from Him at another: they give themselves only to be caressed; and wrest themselves back again, when they come to be crucified,
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Of Suffering which must be Accepted as from God --Its Fruits.
Be content with all the suffering that God may lay upon you. If you will love Him purely, you will be as willing to follow Him to Calvary as to Tabor. He must be loved as much on Calvary as on Tabor, since it is there that He makes the greatest manifestation of His love. Do not act, then, like those people who give themselves at one time, and take themselves back at another. They give themselves to be caressed, and take themselves back when they are crucified; or else they seek for consolation in
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

Of the Royal Way of the Holy Cross
That seemeth a hard saying to many, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow Me.(1) But it will be much harder to hear that last sentence, Depart from me, ye wicked, into eternal fire.(2) For they who now willingly hear the word of the Cross and follow it, shall not then fear the hearing of eternal damnation. This sign of the Cross shall be in heaven when the Lord cometh to Judgment. Then all servants of the Cross, who in life have conformed themselves
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

The Great Confession - the Great Commission - the Great Instruction - the Great Temptation - the Great Decision.
If we are right in identifying the little bay - Dalmanutha - with the neighbourhood of Tarichæa, yet another link of strange coincidence connects the prophetic warning spoken there with its fulfilment. From Dalmanutha our Lord passed across the Lake to Cæsarea Philippi. From Cæsarea Philippi did Vespasian pass through Tiberias to Tarichæa, when the town and people were destroyed, and the blood of the fugitives reddened the Lake, and their bodies choked its waters. Even amidst
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Last Journey of Jesus to Jerusalem.
Jesus had for a long time been sensible of the dangers that surrounded him.[1] During a period of time which we may estimate at eighteen months, he avoided going on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.[2] At the feast of Tabernacles of the year 32 (according to the hypothesis we have adopted), his relations, always malevolent and incredulous,[3] pressed him to go there. The evangelist John seems to insinuate that there was some hidden project to ruin him in this invitation. "Depart hence, and go into Judea,
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

The Preparatory Service; Sometimes Called the Confessional Service.
In our examination of the nature and meaning of the Lord's Supper, we have found that it is indeed a most important and holy Sacrament. It is in fact the most sacred of all the ordinances of the Church on earth. There is nothing beyond it--nothing so heavenly, on this side heaven, as this Feast. Nowhere else does the believer approach so near to heaven as when he stands or kneels, as a communicant at this altar, the Holy of Holies in the Church of Christ. What a solemn act! To approach this altar,
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

A Divine Saviour.
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew xvi. 1; John vi. 69.) We meet with a certain class of Enquirers who do not believe in the Divinity of Christ. There are many passages that will give light on this subject. In 1 Corinthians xv. 47, we are told: "The first man is of the earth earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." In 1 John v. 20: "We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true; and we are in Him that is
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It

Self-Denial.
"If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."--Matt. xvi. 24. Good works are not the saint's sanctification, any more than drops of water are the fountain; but they spring as crystal drops from the fountain of sanctification. They are good, not when the saint intends them to be good, but when they conform to the divine law and proceed from a true faith. Yet the intention is of great importance; the Church has always taught that a work could not be called
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Foundation of the Church among the Heathen
A.D. 38-45 [Sidenote: A.D. 38] During St. Peter's journey, the course of God's good Providence led him to the sea-port town of Joppa, on the borders of Samaria and Judaea, and there we read that "he tarried many days," a measure of time which is supposed to be equivalent to three years. At the expiration of this time an event occurred which had a deep and lasting influence on the life of the Church of Christ. [Sidenote: Further fulfilment of the promise to St. Peter.] Hitherto no Gentiles had been
John Henry Blunt—A Key to the Knowledge of Church History

Christ the Son of God.
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. xvi. 16). "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him and he in God" (I. John iv. 15). "And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" (I. John v. 5). In one sense all men are sons of God. In a much dearer sense all Christians are sons and daughters of the Almighty. But the relationship of Christ to the Father is infinitely above this. He is the Son of God. God is
Frank G. Allen—Autobiography of Frank G. Allen, Minister of the Gospel

Tries to Become a Politician. Fails. Last Act as a Politician. Tries to Join the Southern Army. Fails Again. His First Appointment. Feeling of Responsibility. His
Tries to Become a Politician. Fails. Last Act as a Politician. Tries to Join the Southern Army. Fails Again. His First Appointment. Feeling of Responsibility. His Plan. Text. Analysis of Sermon. Buys a Family Bible. Rules of Life. When I obeyed the Saviour, the brethren urged me to begin at once to preach the gospel. I had been accustomed to making political speeches, and public addresses of different kinds, and they thought I could just as easily preach a sermon as to make a speech on any other
Frank G. Allen—Autobiography of Frank G. Allen, Minister of the Gospel

Concerning the Sacrament of Penance
In this third part I shall speak of the sacrament of penance. By the tracts and disputations which I have published on this subject I have given offence to very many, and have amply expressed my own opinions. I must now briefly repeat these statements, in order to unveil the tyranny which attacks us on this point as unsparingly as in the sacrament of the bread. In these two sacraments gain and lucre find a place, and therefore the avarice of the shepherds has raged to an incredible extent against
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

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