What Is the Rock?
People today are subjected to so much misinformation that one scarcely knows what to believe. Sure, this assessment applies to politics, but we face the same problem with respect to Christianity. A recent Townhall opinion piece will illustrate the modern dilemma. On March 5, of 2023, Myra Kahn Adams posted an article titled, “A Quick Bible Study, Vol. 155: What the Bible Says About the Church.” Presumably, the writer is sincere—but only accurate sometimes. Her essay leaves the reader confused.
She writes that “the church” is a topic rarely discussed, which may be true in a secular sense, but so far as Christianity goes, those in the churches of Christ have both written concerning the church, as well as been involved in several debates on the subject. Many gospel meetings will feature one entire message on the identity or the uniqueness of the church. We do our best to present the truth, but various secular sources are not really helpful. The Internet, for example, if one types in the church, will first receive information about a recording act. A band calls itself The Church, shortened from the original idea, The Church of Man.
Matthew 16:13-18
Adams’ article begins with a good text to study, since Matthew 16:13-18 first records the word church in the New Testament. Jesus asks His disciples what the multitude thinks about who He is. Some thought John the Baptizer, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus asks the pertinent question: “But whom do you say I am?” The writer of this article thinks that Jesus addressed this question to Peter, but the text does not bear this out. In the phrase, you say, you is a plural pronoun, and say is a plural verb. In other words, Jesus is not just addressing Peter; He is asking all His disciples. Peter is the first one with an answer. But this assumption of Adams is preliminary to an even greater error.
She quotes the passage in which Jesus says, “…you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). She goes so far as to point out the contrast between petros and petra, which does her credit. Petros is translated “Peter “while petra is translated “rock.” She correctly points out that petros is “a detached stone,” while petra refers to “bedrock.”
The two Greek words are similar, and Jesus obviously intended the pun, but Peter is not the petra. And the author does not seem to understand what the petra is. Her first conclusion is that “‘the church’ is Christ, built on a rock.” She later repeats, “Jesus is ‘the church.’” But she quotes Colossians 1:18, which correctly states that Jesus “is the head of the body, church.” He is not “the church”; He is its head, and His body (consisting of Christians) is “the church.”
Jesus is not the church; He is the Head of the Church, which is His body (Eph. 1:22-23). Christ is not built on a rock; the church is built on a rock. But, again, what is that rock? The author’s second explanation involves this claim: “Jesus tells Peter that because of his rocklike faith in Him as the Messiah, Jesus will build the church on this rock (Peter) strong enough that Hades will not overcome it.” What? The church is Jesus, but it is built on Peter? She reaffirms this point:
Believers trust that Lord Jesus will continuously bring forth “Peters”—those with rock-solid faith in Him derived from “my father [sic] in heaven” who will sustain and carry forward the church even in the harshest circumstances.
To be sure, the church needs members with rock-like faith in every generation, but they are not the rock upon which the church is built. The third suggestion for the rock leaves the reader’s mouth agape. After quoting 1 Peter 2:4-5, Ephesians 3:10-11, Acts 20:28-31, and Colossians 1:18, the next line is: “The church is a building, but the church is Jesus.”
Perhaps some will respond to that claim by saying, “Well, silly, she means the church is a spiritual building, as Peter describes it in 1 Peter 2:4-5.” Christian are living stones and part of the church, but Adams describes the church as a literal, actual building. She even prescribes an exercise for “the next time you are in church….” “As you walk through the door, imagine that He enters with you.” She concludes by saying: “Although the church is usually a building, never forget that it is a ‘rock.’”
To summarize Adams’ points, then, she asserts that 1) the church is Jesus; 2) the church is built on Peter, and 3) the church is a building. Is it any wonder that people find Christianity confusing? This article could benefit from some clarity, and we hope to provide some in the following paragraphs.
What the Rock is Not
The church is not a building. The word translated “church” is used dozens of times in the New Testament, and not once does it refer to a building. The Greek word is ekkleesia [ek-klay-see'-ah]. It refers to an assembly of people—those “called out” for such a meeting. In Christianity, the assembly is for Christian worship, or it may refer to those “called out” of the world, all of whom comprise the church.
Paul addresses Romans to “all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints” (1:7). Also called to be saints was “the church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Cor. 1:2). Brethren probably met in a building, but Paul never mistakes a building for the saints (Christians) who comprise the church.
Peter is not the rock on which the church (a spiritual body—not a building) Is built. As great an apostle as Peter was, he was nevertheless a human being. Like the rest of us, he was fallible and could sin. Most people recall the fact that he denied Jesus three times on the night He was betrayed. Of course, he bitterly repented (Luke 22:62), and Jesus forgave him. But that was not the only time he sinned. Paul says plainly that he withstood Peter “to his face, because he was to be blamed” (Gal. 2:11).
The purpose here is not to belittle Peter, a great servant and apostle of Jesus Christ; listing some of his transgressions allows us to see that all men are imperfect and could never be the rock upon which the church is built. An imperfect rock would make a bad foundation for a perfect church. So, what is the rock?
Is Jesus the rock on which the church is built? At least we are getting warmer. The rock is related to something about Jesus.
The Rock is Defined in the Text
The rock mentioned in Matthew 16:18 does not refer to Peter; it refers to what Peter confessed when he acknowledged, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). Jesus is not merely a man, as some are willing to admit; nor is he just another in a long line of prophets. He is Deity; He is God.
Consider the passage one more time. Jesus asks who people think He is. The answer is John the Baptizer, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Then Jesus asks what His disciples think? Peter is the first (and maybe the only) one to respond. He says Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah) and also the Son of the living God. Jesus commends him for what he said. It is what he said that is the rock on which the church is built. What did Peter say? He said Jesus is the Son of God, meaning that He possesses fully the nature of His Father, God. Jesus is God, the Son of God!
Jesus’ Deity is the rock upon which the church is built. This fact is what distinguishes Christianity from any other world religion. Muhammad is not the Son of God; he is dead and buried. We know where his tomb is. The same can be said of Siddhartha Gautama (otherwise known as Buddha); he was a human being—not the Son of God. To be sure, some may have claimed to be God, but they died as human beings. “But Jesus died, also.” He did—because He was also the Son of Man, a human being. But He arose from the dead, and no tomb on earth contains His body. Below is the way John describes Jesus’ nature.
In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made….
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1-3, 14a).
The rock refers to what Peter confessed before Christ and the other apostles—that Jesus is the Son of God. Nor is this the last time we hear of this astounding fact. In Hebrews 1:3 we read that Jesus is the brightness of the Father’s glory and “the express image of His person.” In Philippians 2:5-8, Paul writes that Jesus was in the form of God but He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of man. He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.
Furthermore, the Father Himself proclaimed that Jesus was His beloved Son, and He was well-pleased with Him when Jesus was baptized (Matt. 3:17). He made the same pronouncement concerning Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:5). So, not only had Peter confessed that Jesus is the Son of God; the Father Himself did so—twice. John said that he wrote of the miracles of Jesus in His gospel for the very purpose that people would believe “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 20:30-31).
The Deity of Jesus is the rock—the bedrock foundation of Christianity upon which the entire structure stands. This is the confession that all make before becoming a Christian, as the queen’s treasurer from Ethiopia did: “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:37). No other suggestion for the meaning of rock, such as Peter, could possibly fit the actual definition of that upon which the church is built.
The Kingdom
Having ascertained that the rock upon which the church is built is the Deity of Jesus, the next question would be, “What is the church?” It is a spiritual building composed of spiritual-minded people—Christians, who are living stones which are also said to make up a spiritual temple (as opposed to the physical one built by Solomon) (1 Peter 2:5, 9). Christians are also called saints, referring to the fact that they have been made holy (1 Cor. 6:11). In fact, the word translated “saints” in the New Testament is just the plural of the word holy (“holy ones”).
However, the great passage we have been studying in Matthew 16 does not actually end with verse 18. Jesus continues speaking: “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…” (v. 19). Jesus is still addressing Peter when He says, “I will give you the keys.” Peter would unlock the door to the kingdom on the Day of Pentecost, and 3,000 would enter in (Acts 2:38-41). He would explain what they must do to be saved from their sins, and they would gladly receive his word.
But what we must notice is that the church in verse 18 is used interchangeably with the kingdom in verse 19. The basis for this imagery goes all the way back to Isaiah 2:1-4 and Daniel 2:44-45 (cf. 2 Samuel 7:12-16). The Messianic kingdom is a spiritual one, the church. The throne of Jesus is established forever. This kingdom shall not be left to another people. Christ has reigned and will continue to rule until the end of this world.