On This Rock (Introduction)

Written by Dwight A. Pryor Friday, 04 November 2011 05:55

Welcome friends!

I’m so delighted that you’re joining us on this exciting series which we have titled On This Rock: Exploring the Historical Origins and the Hebraic Dimensions of the Radical Church.

Now the word ‘radical’ in this title comes from the meaning of the Latin original, root. We want to go back to the roots of our faith and to the roots of this enterprise we call the church.

This is going to be a challenging series because the subject is so vast it’s hard to kind of narrow it down. We could go on for weeks looking at the various dimensions. But what we’re going to do in this series is go back to the beginning and try to understand the foundations of our faith, the foundations of the church, the principles and patterns that were employed by that Jewish church, that Apostolic church, that book of Acts church, and we do so in order that the church today, constituted of you and me and of many others who call upon the name Yeshua, Jesus, can go forward in greater maturity, bearing fruit and living up to the high calling it has in Christ Jesus.

On This Rock: Exploring the Historical Origins and Hebraic Dimensions of the Radical Church.

Years ago I read a quote that struck me because it resonated with my spirit. It’s actually a statement made by Dr. Gilbert Belizekian, a beloved professor of New Testament theology at the prestigious Wheaton College, “The church’s greatest need is to define itself and its mission biblically. Instead of maintaining an unquestioned status quo relative to traditions and procedures.”

That’s what we’re going to try to do here in our series — define the church, whatever that is, whatever Jesus meant by that term, biblically. Not only in terms of the Scriptures, but in terms of the traditions that lay behind the Scriptures.

Our approach is going to be positive. We hope to elucidate, to enlighten, to edify most of all, and to exhort, to encourage you in the high calling that you have as part of Messiah’s body. We don’t want to be overly critical, but we do want to be catalytic. I’m not a prophet who has come to chastise and to tear down. I’m a fellow pilgrim with you. I’ve come to edify and build up. The last thing I’m interested in doing is starting a new denomination! There are over 30,000 at present, I think that’s quite enough. Nor is there some hidden agenda. I’m not siding with any particular denomination. I’m simply trying to shed new light on an old subject — the church. How is it to function? What is its calling? How is it commissioned? What its relationship is to the kingdom of God, to Jesus, to the Father and to the Spirit. In other words, we want to take a fresh look at what the church is, what the church was, and what the church is yet to be.

Many years ago I was on a national Christian television program with a friend, Dr. Roy Blizzard, and he was asked by one of the hosts, “Dr. Blizzard, if Jesus should come back today to the world, which church would he be most likely to attend on Sunday?”

It was a kind of naive question, but it does make a striking point because Dr. Blizzard’s answer was spot on. He said, “The truth is, if Jesus were here today most likely we wouldn’t find him in a church on Sunday, we’d find him in a synagogue on Saturday.” For there, with his fellow Jewish people, would be the Scritptures that he knew by heart. There would be the kind of worship to which he was accustomed. Jesus was fully part of the Jewish community and so were his disciples. And that’s a very important point when we talk about the origins, the historical origins of the church.

There are many questions we’ll be asking and hopefully answering with some measure of clarity. But basically I want to remind you of this as we begin — if you’re looking at a map and you know what your destination is there are really two things you need to know to get there. Number one you need to know what is the destination, where is it, but equally important, you need to know where you’re leaving from. You have to know where you left from in order to get to where you want to go. And that’s what we’re doing here in this series. We’re trying to understand where the church began. In truth it didn’t begin around the year 30 of the First Century because it’s deeply connected, rooted, into the call that God has upon His people Israel, His covenant community of faith, going all the way back to the Exodus, to the Passover, to the revelation at Mount Sinai. So we’re going to try to clarify the destiny of the church by going back to the origins of it.

Our take-off point will be the text from which we draw the title. I’m referring, of course, to Matthew’s Gospel chapter 16. A famous passage that occurs in the latter days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. In fact, from this point in the north of the land of Israel, in the Galilee, just north of the Sea of Galilee, at a place where the Jordan River issues forth from the ground, from deep springs within, there at a place called Caesarea, but the Caesarea that was built by Philip, not the Caesarea Maritima on the coast, the city that most pilgrims are familiar with. This is called Caesarea Philippi. There Jesus asked a very important question. We begin in verse 13, “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesaria Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of man is?’ And they replied, as you’ll recall. Verse 15, “Then he said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ And Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Messiah, the Christ, the son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood [the natural] has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And further I tell you, you are Peter [Petros] and on this rock [petra] I will build my church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” And then verse 21, “And from that time Yeshua began to show his disciples that he must go up to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

This is our key text, the foundational text upon which we will build, in our series, On This Rock.

First of all let’s make some observations. This is quite an interesting statement that Jesus makes. Provocative. Full of many levels of meaning. It also strikes me as curious that it’s only here, near the end of his ministry, that he mentions the word ‘church’ for the first time. In fact, only three times in our gospels do we find the word ‘church.’ Why is it so infrequent? What is the relationship of the church to the kingdom. Why does Jesus mention it now?

Secondly, let me suggest to you that it’s not insignificant or coincidental that Jesus, from this point of the Jordan River, which in Hebrew means “the descending river,” Jesus is to descend, so to speak, all the way to the grave on our behalf. He’s going to go up to Jerusalem, up on a cross, and then be put into the grave. This is a high point of revelation, but Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem for the festival of Passover, a significant clue as to the origins and Hebraic dimensions of the church.

Peter’s confession is a great one, a classic one. Luke’s Gospel, the parallel here, chapter nine verse 20, actually preserves for us a remarkable Hebraic idiom, Hebraic language, a Hebraic way of speaking. Luke renders it very directly, which is characteristic of the Hebrew, Peter says unto Yeshua, you’re the Messiah God. The first thing you need to understand is that the revelation that Jesus was the Messiah was not something new. In fact, for some three years now he had been consistently, persistently and powerfully alluding to his messianic identity and his oneness with the Father. He was God’s divine agent who was ushering in God’s kingship, God’s rule, the kingdom of God.

So the revelation here that Jesus is so impressed with is conveyed to us by, what in Hebrew is called, a construct, where you take two nouns and you link them together inseparably; Messiah-God. You’re the divine Messiah. You’re Messiah-God. And Jesus undoubtedly with a smile upon his face said, “This is a revelation that comes supernaturally from my Father. Not in the natural flesh and blood.” Then he goes on to say, in response to this bold, courageous proclamation, he in turn makes a proclamation, “And you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.”

Now one of the things we’re going to encounter in our series are a number of contrasts between what, based upon my 20-plus years of experience, I believe to be the pattern and principles of the church in contrast to what we see today and what we’ve seen historically in the development of the church. I don’t draw this contrast to critique but to clarify. And I’m not suggesting that what has transpired in the last 20 centuries is not of God. Clearly God has been at work redeeming and bringing to good the multifarious efforts of the Church and of Christians throughout the centuries.

But here we have an interesting and controversial point. What is the rock on which Jesus is going to build the church? We have to clarify what is the church? What did he mean by this term? What was his Hebrew term that lay behind this? But here, we’re going to ask the question, what is the rock? And of course, from at least the third century and very much in subsequent centuries, the claim has been made that rock is Peter. He was the first bishop of Rome and that apostolic succession has been passed along to subsequent bishops all the way to the present pope, or if you’re from the Orthodox tradition, to subsequent bishops, a plurality of bishops.        

Notice here there’s a word play and everybody assumes, and for understandable reasons, that it’s a word play in Greek. You’re Peter, petros, and on this rock, petra. What’s interesting is that a colleague of mine, David Bivin of the Jerusalem School, has studied extensively the Hebrew backgrounds to the gospels and he’s documented the fact that nowhere in Greek literature of this period is the name Petros attested. That in fact, this word petros has come into the Hebrew language kind of as a lone word. We have a lot of lone words in English. We say, for example, enchilada; it doesn’t mean we’re from Mexico. We say cliché, a French word. In fact, we know there were other Jewish leaders, including a well-known Jewish rabbi, with the name Petros.

Furthermore, the play here is quite significant. Petros refers to, in effect, an unattached stone. Petra refers to a solid rock. And so Jesus is saying, “You’re a little rock and on the solid rock I’m going to build my church.”

Here’s an interesting midrash, ancient Jewish commentary. It comes, actually, from the 13th Century but preserves traditions that are much more ancient dating back in antiquity to the time of Yeshua. An anonymous interpreter, commenting on the text Numbers 23:9, “From the rocky heights I see them..”

Describe the dilemma God confronted when He wished to create the world.  It can be compared to a king who desired to build a palace. He began digging, searching for solid rock on which he could lay foundations, but he found only mire. He dug in several other sites, always with the same results. However, the king did not give up. He dig in still another location and this time he struck solid rock. [And the word here in Hebrew is petra.] “Here,” he said, “I will build,” and he laid foundations and built. In the same manner the Holy One, blessed be He, before He created the world sat and examined the generation of Enosh and the generation of the flood. “How can I create the world when those wicked people will appear and provoke me to anger?” he said. When however, the Holy One, blessed be He, saw Abraham, he said, “Here I have found solid rock [petra] on which I can build and upon which I can lay the world’s foundations.”

Jesus seems to be employing a very similar kind of allusion, that he’s going to build something solid on the solid rock and Peter is a key to that, but not the entirety of that revelation. Not the entirety.

What is the rock? Is it Peter? Or could it be something else? I don’t wish to engage in the classic Protestant/Catholic debate on this. I wish to suggest that Hebraically, in fact, there are probably at least three levels of meaning. Hebrew thought is always multidimensional.

The first level is, in fact, Shimon Petros, the individual, the man. He is, in effect, the key man. He’s a leader, he’s a first among equals, and he plays a leading role in several instances recorded in the New Testament, especially in the book of Acts. For example, after Paul’s revelation of the identity of Messiah and spending many years in the wilderness alone with the Messiah, by His Spirit, he goes up to Jerusalem to confer with Peter. So yes, I think Peter is in view here and he needs to be thought of as the first among equals. He was the key man, he was bold, he was courageous, he would take the initiative. The church is built on the foundation of the Apostles and the Prophets and Peter was a key apostle.

But on the other hand if Jesus were drawing attention just to Peter, one would have expected him to say something like, ‘You are Peter, and I will build my church on you,’ or, ‘On you I will build my church.’ But he doesn’t do that, he uses a play on words because I’m suggesting to you that there are at least two other levels of meaning.

First of all, not only do we have the individual, Simon Peter, secondly we have the identity of Jesus himself just confessed by Shimon. Or as Matthew so beautifully amplifies, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.” This is the ultimate identity of Jesus of Nazareth. He’s more than a man, though fully man, he is divine, God’s divine agent to usher in the kingdom. So it’s on the identity of Jesus that the church is built.

And thirdly, I would suggest to you that also the rock is a reference to the teachings or instruction of Jesus. Matthew chapter seven Jesus tells a parable and he says, ‘Those who hear my words and obey them are wise and they’re wise builders.’ This is the same language, building, builders. ‘They build upon the rock and though the storms come, even though Hades itself attacks, it’s a solid foundation.’

So I’m suggesting to you that not only is the rock Peter, not only is it the identity of Jesus as the divine messiah, but it’s also Jesus’ teaching. That is the rock. It’s a play, perhaps, on Psalm 118, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone [the stone of the head, literally.]” And Jesus in the parable of the vineyard identifies himself as that stone that the builders are going to reject, but God is going to make it the cornerstone. He goes on to say, “If that stone falls upon the wicked, woe to the wicked. If the wicked are crushed by that stone, woe to the wicked.”

So Jesus is the rock. Paul even uses that language in I Corinthians 10, “Our forefathers [by the way, he’s saying ‘our’ in the context of the Gentiles at Corinth] were baptized into Moses in the sea,” and he goes on to say, “they ate the spiritual food in the wilderness and drank the living waters from the rock, and that rock was messiah,” says Paul.

By the way, that’s not a novel idea. An ancient Jewish midrash, commentary, it is literally said that the rock that provided water for Israel followed Israel through their journeys. Paul’s playing on that midrash in saying that rock was messiah.

So Jesus is talking about building something. We’re going to look at that in our next session. What is this thing called the church? But he’s saying this church is built on the rock, that includes the apostles, key among whom was Shimon Petros. That includes the identity of Yeshua as the messiah and not alone messiah, the Messiah of God, the divine Messiah, Messiah-God. And, very importantly, that rock alludes to the teaching of Jesus. Jesus says, “My words are spirit and life. If you build upon them you are wise. You will withstand the adversities and attacks of the adversary.” And so the church is build upon the Word. It’s not a coincidence, as we’ll see in a subsequent session, that there were in effect two pillars to the building of the first church. One of the pillars, according to Acts 2:42, is the teaching of the apostles. The Word of God is the foundation upon which the church is built.

Quickly, let’s move ahead to verse 18 before we close this session. “The gates of Hades, [of Hell] the gates of death...” could well be a reference, an allusion, to Isaiah 38:10 that speaks of the gates of the grave. It refers to the power of death. Jesus identity has just been revealed and now he reveals his destiny to his disciples and his apostles. He’s going to go up to Jerusalem, he’s going to encounter the religious authority, disturbingly threatened by this powerful, popular messianic figure, and by God’s foreordained plan, God will hand him over, deliver him up to these religious authorities who will hand him over, deliver him up, to the Romans who will execute him. And then God will raise him from the grave. So Jesus is assuring his disciples, for they don’t quite understand this yet, that not even death, not even the death of messiah is going to stop the church, for he will be raised on the third day, that he has power, the power of life that will overcome death, hell and the grave. And it is this power which will animate the church and his words which will inform the church, built upon his identity and under the administration, leadership of the apostles, including Shimon Petros. “Keys of the kingdom,” this is a text, perhaps, that alludes back to Isaiah 22:22, “And I will give him the keys of David.” The context of Isaiah 22 is about a reference to messiah, the son of David, and he’s going to have David’s authority and power, the context is the government, the context is kingdom. Jesus says, ‘I’m giving you now the authority, Peter,’ and he later gives this authority to the apostles, Matthew 18:18, “To the apostles,” plural, we know from Acts 15, that’s also an authority exercised by the church as a whole. So it’s not Simon Peter alone to whom it given this authority to bind and to loose. Authority for governing this community of faith called the church.

Bind and loose, of course, immediately to the Christian mind tends to evoke the passage in Matthew 12 about binding the strong man. So many believe this has to do with binding demons in the name of Jesus. In fact this text has nothing to do with that whatsoever, Matthew 12 does, but not Matthew 16. Nor in John’s Gospel chapter 20:23 does this particular text have to do with the forgiveness of sins as John uses the term in his fourth gospel. These Hebrew terms the rabbi Yeshua uses are well-known from Jewish literature of the Second Temple Period. They simply mean, to make decisions that prohibit certain conduct or decisions that permit certain conduct.

The authority is being given to Jesus’ disciples to interpret Jesus’ torah, Jesus’ teaching. To make clear to the disciples, to the church, what conduct is appropriate, what conduct is inappropriate. What is forbidden by the teachings of Jesus and the Word of God and what is permitted. The authority is in the Word, but that authority is now shared with the disciples to interpret the Word. And this concept, in practice, was well known in Second Temple Judaism.

Jesus is saying, ‘I’m giving you now the authority which I have exercised.’ For example, earlier in Matthew’s Gospel he says, ‘You’ve heard it said you shall not do this and that, I say to you you shall do this.’ He’s interpreting the Torah for his disciples. Don’t murder, I’m saying to you it means don’t have hatred. Don’t commit adultery, he’s says also means don’t have lust. Now, he says, I’m going to give that authority to you disciples because I’m going up to Jerusalem to be delivered up as the Son of Man on the world’s behalf, but in fact, now raised I’m going to become the head of a movement I’m calling my church.

And that’s where we’ll pick up in our next session -- what does he mean by the church? and what does it mean to you and me? and how is this authority to bind and to loose utilized by these apostles and the radical, [root] church?

Again, I’m so happy you’ve joined us for this series On This Rock. I look forward to seeing you in our next session. Until then...Shalom!

© 2011 The Center for Judaic-Christian Studies.