{And I also say unto thee} (k'ag(9320)de soi leg(935c)). "The
emphasis is not on 'Thou art Peter' over against 'Thou art the
Christ,' but on Kag(935c): 'The Father hath revealed to thee one
truth, and I also tell you another" (McNeile). Jesus calls Peter
here by the name that he had said he would have ( Joh 1:42 ).
Peter (Petros) is simply the Greek word for Cephas (Aramaic).
Then it was prophecy, now it is fact. In verse 17 Jesus
addresses him as "Simon Bar-Jonah," his full patronymic (Aramaic)
name. But Jesus has a purpose now in using his nickname "Peter"
which he had himself given him. Jesus makes a remarkable play on
Peter's name, a pun in fact, that has caused volumes of
controversy and endless theological strife. {On this rock} (epi
taut(8869) t(8869) petr(8369)) Jesus says, a ledge or cliff of rock like
that in 7:24 on which the wise man built his house. Petros is
usually a smaller detachment of the massive ledge. But too much
must not be made of this point since Jesus probably spoke Aramaic
to Peter which draws no such distinction (K(8870)h(835c)). What did
Jesus mean by this word-play?
{I will build my church} (oikodom(8873)(9320)mou t(886e) ekkl(8873)ian). It is
the figure of a building and he uses the word ekkl(8873)ian which
occurs in the New Testament usually of a local organization, but
sometimes in a more general sense. What is the sense here in
which Jesus uses it? The word originally meant "assembly" ( Ac
19:39 ), but it came to be applied to an "unassembled assembly"
as in Ac 8:3 for the Christians persecuted by Saul from house
to house. "And the name for the new Israel, ekkl(8873)ia, in His
mouth is not an anachronism. It is an old familiar name for the
congregation of Israel found in Deut. ( De 18:26 23:2 ) and
Psalms ( Ps 22:36 ), both books well known to Jesus" (Bruce). It
is interesting to observe that in Ps 89 most of the important
words employed by Jesus on this occasion occur in the LXX text.
So oikodom(8873)(935c) in Ps 89:5 ; ekkl(8873)ia in Ps 89:6 ;
katischu(935c) in Ps 89:22 ; Christos in Ps 89:39,52 ; h(8369)d(8873)
in Ps 89:49 (ek cheiros h(8369)dou). If one is puzzled over the
use of "building" with the word ekkl(8873)ia it will be helpful to
turn to 1Pe 2:5 . Peter, the very one to whom Jesus is here
speaking, writing to the Christians in the five Roman provinces
in Asia ( 1Pe 1:1 ), says: "You are built a spiritual house"
(oikodomeisthe oikos pneumatikos). It is difficult to resist
the impression that Peter recalls the words of Jesus to him on
this memorable occasion. Further on ( 1Pe 2:9 ) he speaks of them
as an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, showing
beyond controversy that Peter's use of building a spiritual house
is general, not local. This is undoubtedly the picture in the
mind of Christ here in 16:18 . It is a great spiritual house,
Christ's Israel, not the Jewish nation, which he describes. What
is the rock on which Christ will build his vast temple? Not on
Peter alone or mainly or primarily. Peter by his confession was
furnished with the illustration for the rock on which His church
will rest. It is the same kind of faith that Peter has just
confessed. The perpetuity of this church general is guaranteed.
{The gates of Hades} (pulai h(8369)dou) {shall not prevail against
it} (ou katischusousin aut(8873)). Each word here creates
difficulty. Hades is technically the unseen world, the Hebrew
Sheol, the land of the departed, that is death. Paul uses
hanate in 1Co 15:55 in quoting Ho 13:14 for h(8369)d(885c). It is
not common in the papyri, but it is common on tombstones in Asia
Minor, "doubtless a survival of its use in the old Greek
religion" (Moulton and Milligan, _Vocabulary_). The ancient
pagans divided Hades (a privative and idein, to see, abode of
the unseen) into Elysium and Tartarus as the Jews put both
Abraham's bosom and Gehenna in Sheol or Hades (cf. Lu 16:25 ).
Christ was in Hades ( Ac 2:27,31 ), not in Gehenna. We have here
the figure of two buildings, the Church of Christ on the Rock,
the House of Death (Hades). "In the Old Testament the 'gates of
Hades' (Sheol) never bears any other meaning ( Isa 38:10 ; Wisd.
16:3; 3Macc. 5:51) than death," McNeile claims. See also Ps
9:13 107:18 Job 38:17 (pulai thanatou pul(9372)oi h(8369)dou). It is
not the picture of Hades _attacking_ Christ's church, but of
death's possible victory over the church. "The ekkl(8873)ia is
built upon the Messiahship of her master, and death, the gates of
Hades, will not prevail against her by keeping Him imprisoned. It
was a mysterious truth, which He will soon tell them in plain
words (verse 21 ); it is echoed in Ac 2:24,31 " (McNeile).
Christ's church will prevail and survive because He will burst
the gates of Hades and come forth conqueror. He will ever live
and be the guarantor of the perpetuity of His people or church.
The verb katischu(935c) (literally have strength against, ischu(935c)
from ischus and kat-) occurs also in Lu 21:36 23:23 . It
appears in the ancient Greek, the LXX, and in the papyri with the
accusative and is used in the modern Greek with the sense of
gaining the mastery over. The wealth of imagery in Mt 16:18
makes it difficult to decide each detail, but the main point is
clear. The ekkl(8873)ia which consists of those confessing Christ
as Peter has just done will not cease. The gates of Hades or bars
of Sheol will not close down on it. Christ will rise and will
keep his church alive. _Sublime Porte_ used to be the title of
Turkish power in Constantinople.
|