The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 154

significance, therefore, of t-his moment cannot be exa.g-gerated, tbo Jgh it bas been mi&• understood. ~hen ou~ Lord says, "0~ this rock will I build my Church," he intro• duces to the mmds of his hearers a new idea. They see their future associates in the faith forming together an edifice or spiritual temple in which God will dwell. And they are assured that amidst the wreck of other societies this shall stand. The power of "Hades," "the unseen," thllt mysterious region into which all human things pass, is to have no power over the Church. This is the fact: while empires moulder into a mere memory, the Church renews herself from age to age, and is as livina now as ever before. But that Christ should have predicted this, and at the very time when all seemed over with bis hope of being received by Israel, seems almost as wonderful as the con• tinuance of the Church itself. "I 'l"l"ill give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven" -this certainly involves that Peter should have a position of the highest authority in the Church. And in point of fact, it was Peter who opened the gates of the kingdom to the Gentiles. This power is further explained in a form of speech common among the Jews, and which bore a perfectly definite meaning. The power to hind and loose W83 what we speak of as legislative power, power to introduce new laws and to repeal old ones. Such is the overwhelming return which our Lord makes to Peter for his con- fession. No confession can rival the first, or can bring the comfort, the relief, the hope which Peter's brought to the overburdened spirit of his Lord-no confession now made can seem to our Lord as the firm rock on which the Church may rise. And yet every acknowledgment must bring gratification to his spirit, and must be responded to by some recognition more or less distinct. Perhaps it is not easier for us than it was for Peter to come to a clear decision regarding the Person of Christ. Certainly there was a great weight of authority against Peter, but our own judgment is not free from the disturbing effect of similar influences. The verdict of the leaders of thought in our own day is almost unanimously against the distinctive claims of Christ. Christians, too, betray a consciousness that they are in a less secure and certain position than formerly, and are too careful to let it be seen they appreciate the difficulties of belief. There is all the louder call upon us to make our confession of Christ full, clear, hearty, and steadfast; to form an opinion for ourselves; so that we come to Christ with what, he can accept as a fresh tribute, and not as a mere echo of some other people's confes- sion. We see here that the difference between acknowledging him as a Prophet and acknowledging him as the Son of God is just the difference between faith and unbelief. In answer to Peter's "Thou art Christ," comes our Lord's "Thou art Peter." It is an instance of the fulfilment of his promise, "He that confesseth me before men, him will I confess before my Father;" but it is more than this. In recognizing who Jesus was Peter learned what his own character and his own prospects were. Now, for the first time, he saw the significance of his own name. It is so with every one. It is in the vision of Christ's true nature and purpose that a man awakens to e. sense of his own worth and of the possibilities that lie before him. For you as for Peter he will mark out the proper work; he will give you a place as a living stone; he will impart to yoiJ every quality you need in the difficult circumstances of life and in the actual career that lies before you.-D. Vers. 20-28.-Necessity of the cros,. Peter's words pierced like a sharp thorn into tbe very heart of Christ, and roused as keen an indignation as his previous words had awakened gratitude. For the horror which our Lord saw in Peter's face a.a he announced the near approach of death reflected the horror he himself bad passed through during those past days in which he had been making up his mind to die; the incapacity of Peter to understand that death should be the necessary step to glory tended to upset the balance of his own mind as well as to disclose to him the extreme difficulty there would be in persuading the world at large that a crucified King could be a King at all. Peter seemed for the moment to be the very embodiment of tempta- tion, to be inspired by that very spirit of evil which bad assailed him in the wilderness. Instead of a rock on which to found the Church, he bad become a rock of offence. 'l'he words of reprimand were severe, but in the circumstances intelligible. Seeing, then, the unwillingness of the disciples to think of a Messiah who should not co~e with armed followers and all the pomp and circumstance of war, our Lord from this time fornard spends m11ch time in an endeavour to demonstrate the necessity of bia cm. xvI. 1-28.) TilE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 157