When We See the Truth, Part 2

Upon this rock?  What rock?

If you’re reading this post, you might want to go back and catch PART 1 here first.

People have understood what Jesus says here in many different ways throughout the centuries.

Peter?

When Jesus said, “…upon this rock I will build my church…” was Jesus talking about Peter?

That’s the way that many people understand what Jesus says here. And they may be right. God obviously used Peter in some pretty amazing ways to build up his church.

This Mountain?

Other people, looking at where Jesus said these words, think that Jesus is saying he would build his church on or “against” this mountain that was a center for idol worship.

In other words, in this place where Satan reigns I’m going to build my church here where I will reign and my kingdom will never end! That could be a possibility as well.

This Truth?

But I tend to think that what Jesus was referring to, the “rock” that Jesus was going to build his church on wasn’t Peter, and it wasn’t the rock they were looking at beside them, it was the bedrock of the foundational truth that Peter himself had just proclaimed. The truth that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

It is this truth that the church has been built on for some 2000 years.

And it’s this truth that we build our lives on today. That Jesus is exactly who He says He is. And that foundational truth radically changes our lives.

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This is the truth Jesus wanted His disciples to see in this place! This is why He brought them here!

And… I think that’s what Peter thought too! Later on, Peter would write these words to the church…

“You are coming to Christ, who is the LIVING CORNERSTONE of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.” – 1 Peter 2.4

Peter calls Jesus the “LIVING CORNERSTONE.” Peter never once refers to himself as some kind of rock the church was built on. But over and over again he points to Jesus as the Cornerstone of our faith and of God’s church!

The Gates of Hades

But that’s not all Jesus says… did you hear what Jesus said at the end?

“…upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”

Literally: “The gates of hades will not overpower it or prevail against it.”

From as early as 3BC, people would come here to Caesarea Philippi to worship. They would come into this temple, into this cave, and as an act of worship to the god Pan, they would throw a goat into the abyss.

This abyss, by the way, was also known as hades. The cave was believed to be a gate to the underworld. And Hades, the god of the underworld, had one job: to keep the dead, dead.

Whatever entered hades through this gate in this cave did not return alive. Because Hades had one job, to keep the dead, dead!

Jesus says that the gates of hades would not prevail against his church. What is Jesus saying? The job of Hades is to keep the dead, dead. To keep anyone from escaping. No one could leave once they entered Hades.

But the church of Jesus Christ has nothing to fear. The people who confess Jesus as Messiah, the Son of the Living God have nothing to fear.

Why?

The disciples didn’t know it yet. They were still living on the other side of the cross. But you know the rest of the story.

What happened after Jesus was crucified? What happened after He went down into the abyss? Down into hades? What happened on Easter morning?

Jesus defeated death!  Jesus conquered the grave!  The gates of hades could not contain the Son of the Living God!

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And as people who believe that Jesus is who He says He is, that Jesus defeated death and rose up from the grave, we have that same power!

The church has resurrection power! We have nothing to fear! Even if we die, when we die, the gates of Hades will not be able to keep us in the grave because we have resurrection power.

Who do you say Jesus is?

After that first telescope was invented, it was improved by a man you may have heard of named Galileo. Galileo took the idea for the telescope, improved it and get this… he was the first one to point it at the stars.

Galileo took the telescope and applied it to seeing things in the universe.

For the first time, because of Galileo’s telescope, you could see the craters on the surface of the moon. You could see Jupiter. You could see things you could have never seen before.

Some of you have been looking for Jesus, you’ve been looking for a Savior, you’ve been looking for something to put your confidence in, you’ve been looking for something to hope in, you’ve been looking for purpose, you’ve been looking for God… but you’ve yet to LOOK UP.

This is why Jesus traveled with his disciples 25 miles north to Caesarea Philippi. Because he wanted them to CLEARLY SEE who He was. He wanted to LIFT their eyes… so they went 1150 feet above sea level to the base of a mountain where you could lift your eyes in worship to so many other gods. And in this PLACE, Jesus wanted them to SEE HIM.

Why?

Because…

If Jesus is who He says He is, it changes everything.

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Because Jesus knew, if they believed He was who He said He was, if they believed that in Him they had resurrection power, if they believed they had nothing to fear… not even the gates of hades… then they could carry His message and build His church on this singular truth that changes absolutely everything.

That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!

Do you believe this truth?

If so, you can build your life on this truth. And we can build God’s church on this truth.