DeoOmnisGloria.com

Matthew’s View of “Church”

The question of what constitutes a “church” is a key theme of the Gospel of Matthew. I think it is very enlightening to examine how Matthew delves into the idea of “church” and what we can learn from him.

St. Matthew was the first to write down his gospel and we can be assured that it was done before 80 A.D., so it was very early on in terms of Biblical composition. It was written primarily to the Jews – or to Jewish converts to Christianity. St. Matthew’s Gospel is sometimes referred to as the “Gospel of the Church,” since it has much to say on the Church Christ was founding. I felt it would be a good idea to analyze the various church themes within Matthew, since it is key to understanding Christ’s intentions.

As I noted above, a key theme through Matthew is his understanding of the Church. In one specific instance (Matt 8:23-27), Matthew uses a boat to symbolize the physical Church. The storm arrives and seems ready to sink the boat (Church) and the men lose faith. Jesus’ sleeping is a metaphor for those times when it seems God is not coming to the aid of His struggling Church. However, the church is not sunk and Christ chastises us for not faithfully trusting in His providence. This is a great lesson for our times. Early Christian art and writing often depicts the Church as a boat in accordance with Matthew’s metaphor. This is just one example of how Matthew integrates the Church into every aspect of his Gospel.

However, the key passage in regards to the Church is Matthew 16:15-19:

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death 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.”

There is a lot of information packed into these few verses. First, we must understand that God only renamed two people in the entire Bible. He renamed Abram as Abraham, which translates to “father of many” the function that Abraham received from God (to birth the 12 families). Here Jesus does something similar. He renames Peter “Cephas,” which is Aramaic for “Rock” (we know Jesus was speaking Aramaic). Peter’s function is to be the Rock of Jesus’ church. So the direct quote is “you are Rock, and on this rock I will build my church . . . “ Note that Christ clearly says He [Jesus] will build “my church” on Peter. “My church” is singular indicating a sole church, rather than a group of individual churches or a body of denominations. The word “Ekklesia” is used for church and the Gospels only use it twice: here and in Matthew 18:18. Next, Jesus goes a step further and makes His Church permanent by clearly noting that the “powers of death” or “gates of hell” (both translations are valid) will not prevail against it. This is a powerful verse since it clearly puts Peter at the head of a Church that is eternal.

The next sentence conveys the power Peter is to have. First, he is given the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” which is a reference to Isaiah 22:15-23 where David gives the keys of his kingdom to another so that “he shall open and none shall shut; he shall shut and none shall open.” This man becomes the steward of David’s kingdom, just as Jesus is making Peter the earthly steward of his heavenly kingdom (the “kingdom of heaven”). Note the similarity with John 21:15-19, where Jesus, the true Shepherd, asks Peter to “feed his sheep” before he ascends into heaven. Both of these paint the same picture: Peter is in charge of the Church on earth while Christ is in heaven (note that we believe God is actually running the Church, but the Pope is God’s representative and mouthpiece on earth). Jesus goes on to explain the power of the “keys of the kingdom” by telling Peter that he has the power to bind on earth and in heaven! Peter alone is told this at this point, but in the next passage this is passed along to the other apostles.

Matthew 18:15-20. [Jesus speaking] “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

It is important to note here that Jesus is speaking only to the Apostles, which are the Bishops of Church. This keeps us humble – if you and I agree on something, it doesn’t follow that this verse applies to us. With that said this church discourse also has some interesting ramifications. First, it requires that there be one single church, rather than a multitude of denominations. Why? In the first section, if your brother is a Methodist and you are a Baptist, what good will telling the Baptist church do? Can they chastise your brother? No. Jesus’ plan was laid out for a single Church that has authority over all Christians – and the authority to excommunicate, which is exactly where Jesus goes. Note that he does not give the keys of the kingdom to anyone but Peter. However, he does give the other apostles the ability to bind and loose, which includes forgiveness of sin and excommunication – this is how the first two points of this section tie together. He also explains that this includes the ability to ask God for “anything.” Perhaps this is why this power isn’t conferred upon you and me! Along with this real power comes real responsibility, which is why it is only given to the “seats” filled by the apostles.

How do we know these powers were passed down through the ages? There is much evidence, but for clarity’s sake I will point out the most obvious: Acts 1:15-20 and following. In this passage another fills the “seat” of Judas in accordance to Scripture (Old Testament). Matthias is chosen. Common sense tells us that if there were one seat that would go unfilled, it would be Judas’ seat. After all he did betray Christ. And yet every seat is important, so every one must be filled as its occupant dies. This sums up the creation of the Catholic Church as seen through the eyes of Matthew.

In conclusion I would ask how is it possible to get around this? We’ve written other articles on the Primacy of Peter and Apostolic Tradition explaining their Biblical roots in detail. I see no way that one can (a) make the claim that Christ did not found a single church, or (b) that He did not place Peter at its head as Catholic Church rightly claims. I would be interested in any attempts to get around these verses.

God bless,
Jay

Posted by Jay at February 19, 2004 09:36 AM | TrackBack