What "Rock" is the Church built on?
I’ve already written about the Gates of Hades and the Keys of the Kingdom but I would also like to address the incident when Jesus says he will build his church on the “Rock”
Matthew 16:18
And I tell you that you are Peter (The name “Peter”, means “rock”), and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Some think the church was built on Peter, some on Peter’s confession or revelation. But I believe the Church was built on Christ.
To get a better picture, it helps to take a look at the use of the word “rock” used earlier in Matthew:
Matthew 7:24-27
"Therefore everyone who hears these words (logos) of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words (logos) of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
In the parable, the house was built on the rock and the rock is symbolic of the “word” (logos). All throughout Matthew, it talks about receiving the “Word”. And we see in John that Jesus is also the “Word”:
John 1:14
The Word (Logos) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
When Jesus said he would build his Church on the Rock, he was referring to himself! Which Peter had just mentioned:
Matthew 16:16
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
The Church is built on “the Christ, the Son of the living God”!
It may seem odd that Jesus was referring to himself in the third person but we find that elsewhere in Scripture as well:
John 2:19-21
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
Besides, doesn’t it just make sense? If the church was going to be built on anyone, wouldn’t it have to be Jesus!?
Just like Peter was renamed “Rock” by Jesus, so do we all become rocks when we believe in Jesus. Like living stones that are all built on Christ!
1 Peter 2:4-8
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame." Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
"The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone," and,
"A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
