Matthew 16:15–20: “He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.’ Then He instructed His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.”
What did Peter release on earth? He released the kingdom of God in an awesome way.
The Holy Spirit came in Acts 2 and descended on them. People immediately misunderstood what was happening (“They are full of new wine,” Acts 2:13). Peter’s role cannot be disregarded. It’s a key to whatever we are seeing in the expression of the kingdom of God now.
And what is a key? A key is something small—an access point. Once you use that key, a whole world can open. A whole different world opened with Peter preaching that day. In this discourse between Jesus and Peter, Jesus mentioned “the gates of Hades.” If you have a gate, that means you have keys; that means you have opposition—an oppositional force that will want to stamp out, stop, the movement of the kingdom.
Maybe thinking about these words of Jesus was how Peter was able to sleep in prison (Acts 12:6). Maybe thinking about these words when he saw all the opposition—when the apparent power of opposition against the church rose—was why Peter and company could not be moved. Even when persecution arose, and the disciples were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, “the apostles stayed in Jerusalem” (Acts 8:1). I’m saying: this is not normal. This is not something done in the arm of the flesh. You can see it coming from the words of Jesus here.
The words of Jesus declaring, “I am in charge.” He said, “On this rock I will build My church.” “You are going to be My means of getting things done,” Jesus was telling Peter. And God cannot be stopped. It does not matter the amount of opposition.
What kind of powerful opposition did we see with the death of Jesus Christ? So much—His death, His burial—but that itself became fuel for the fire, became the means to God’s ongoing divine end.
Look at the powerful, confident advancement. Peter looked at the people who were threatening them and telling them not to preach again in the name of Jesus. He said, “Whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God, you decide, for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19–20). Look at that confidence. These are the people with power. They had just killed your Master a few weeks before, and you are standing.
Why was he able to stand? Because Christ made him a rock—immovable, unable to be moved. “You are Peter [rock].” This is not you making yourself into a rock; this is you being made into a rock. And God used Peter in a powerful way to create a shift—and we are still feeling the impact of that shift today.
God bless you. See you later.