Revelation snippets: You are a rock!

 

Mat 16:17-19, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 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.”

We know this passage very well; a passage that has caused a lot of controversy and divisions amongst Catholics and Protestants. For Catholics, this seals the primacy of Peter over the Church and explains the origin of the papacy. However, Protestants consider that the text simply means that the rock (petra) upon which the Church is built, is the revelation that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the Living GOD (vs. 16).

Simon comes from a Hebrew verb (shama, listen) and means “who hears and obey”. The ekklesia is a congregation set apart. Petra is a stone or a rock. Now, bearing this in mind, I would like to go further and rephrase the passage like this: “You are blessed, you who listens and obeys, if you understand by revelation that you are a rock that Jesus wants to use in order to assemble a group which is as strong as a rock around you; a group so strong that nothing can shake it.” Indeed, did the apostle Peter not remind us that we are living stones which are being built up as a spiritual house (1Pe 2:5)?

It’s about time we are strengthened and cease to be tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind like reeds. The LORD is saying to each and every one of us today that we are living stones. These stones may be despised and rejected by men; but they can become, by virtue of the revelation which imparts understanding even unto the simple, the cornerstones of gatherings/assemblies/corporations or else, that Christ Jesus wants to build from and around us (read Ps 119:130 and 1Pe 2:4-6). We are rocks.

Have a great blessed week, as you walk in this revelation.

PS: The paperback version of my second book, “Are you ready for this embarrassment?” is out. The electronic version will not be available before July or August. The book is not available on Amazon or Barnes and Nobles etc. yet. However, if you live in Europe or in the U.S.A, contact me and we will see how you can get your copy. For those living in Cameroon, the book will be available locally by the end of June 2014. Keep in touch.