Church?! MY Church.

The Greek word for church is found about 114 times in the New Testament. Most of those time it refers to the Assembly of GOD’S people. The word ‘assembly’ is both a description and a definition. Since we’ve already discussed that, let’s move on. Matthew 16:18 is the first time that I know of where the word Church is used. This is just after Peter makes his famous confession, “You are the CHRIST, the SON of the living GOD.” JESUS responds in a beautiful way making a connection with Peter’s name. “You are Peter.” Peter (Petros in Greek) is a masculine proper noun, which according to Helps Word Studies, means, a stone- a pebble, such as a small rock found along a pathway. It’s an isolated rock which always means a stone such as a person may throw. This is the name JESUS gave to Peter early in HIS ministry. JESUS blesses Peter and says, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but MY FATHER who is in heaven.” What is the ‘THIS’ that was revealed? It was the statement Peter had just made, “YOU are the CHRIST (MESSIAH)! YOU are the SON of the Living GOD!” JESUS then reminds Simon of his name, “YOU are Peter.” You are a stone, a small rock, a pebble along a pathway. But there is a greater stone. There is THE ROCK. This ‘ROCK’ is a feminine noun, PETRA, not masculine. PETRA is defined as a “mass of connected rock, a huge mass of rock." IT is NOT a proper name in this context. IT is further defined by the feminine form of the word, ‘THIS’. It is a change of gender. It is a play on words. ‘THIS’ is again related to Peter’s confession. The original text also adds the feminine definite article, “Upon THIS THE PETRA.” JESUS double downs, making sure there’s no confusion about which rock is being spoken of. Then comes the description, clear and precise, “I will build MY Church.” It belongs to JESUS and JESUS alone. IT’s built on the PETRA ROCK, the ROCK of the TRUTH of HIS nature, HE is CHRIST, the SON of the Living GOD.

Russell Ashby