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In this book we shall be concerned with Matthew 16, one of the greatest chapters in the Bible. In this chapter Christ is revealed in an extraordinary way, and the church is mentioned for the first time. This chapter also speaks of such things as the gates of Hades, the keys of the kingdom, and the building of the church upon the rock with so many Peters as the stones. In Matthew 16:13-28 there are at least eighteen crucial items: Christ, the church, the kingdom, the gates of Hades, the keys of the kingdom, the rock, the stone, the building of the church, the crucifixion, the resurrection, Satan, self-denial, the bearing of the cross, the losing or saving of the soul, the following of the Lord, the reward in the kingdom, the coming of the Son of Man, and the coming of the Son of Man in His kingdom. In this chapter we shall deal with the revelation of Christ in Matthew 16.
Prior to Matthew 16 the Lord had been with His disciples for a period of time. During this time, He walked with them, conversed with them, dwelt with them, and ate with them. As a result, they came to know Him very well. Nevertheless, one day He took these disciples, who knew Him thoroughly, far away from the holy city and the holy temple to Caesarea Philippi, a region where the sky is clear and the atmosphere fresh. In this atmosphere He asked them a question: “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” (v. 13). They replied, “Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (v. 14). All these nonsensical answers were spoken according to the natural, religious mentality. Instead of rebuking His disciples for these answers, He directed the question to them: “But you, who do you say that I am?” (v. 15). Then, to the surprise of the other disciples, Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16).
The definite article before the word Christ is very important. Christ is the anglicized form of the Greek word Christos, which is equivalent to the Hebrew word Messiah. Both Messiah in Hebrew and Christos in Greek mean “the anointed One.” The term Messiah, the anointed One, is used in Daniel 9:26, which says, “After the sixty-two weeks Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing.” All Bible students agree that this refers to Jesus Christ, who is the anointed One.
According to the Old Testament principle, anyone used by God to carry out His administration had to be anointed. Thus, the kings, priests, and prophets were all anointed when they came into function. This indicates that the anointing is for the carrying out of God’s administration. Whatever God wants us to do or accomplish is related to His anointing. The ointment with which we are anointed actually is God Himself. God anoints us with Himself. God, however, is not simple, but complex. He is triune, that is, one in three and three in one. Although it is a fact that God is triune, this is a fact that no one can explain.
Peter declared not only that Jesus is the Christ but also that He is the Son of the living God. Christ is the anointed One, the One upon whom God has poured Himself out as the ointment to accomplish His administration. In the Bible, water, in its positive significance, indicates life, and oil indicates function. Both water and oil are used to represent the Spirit. The difference between these two symbols of the Spirit is that the Spirit as water is for life, whereas the Spirit as oil is for function. When the Spirit as water enters into you, that is for life. But when the Spirit as oil is poured upon you, that is for function. The Spirit as water getting into us is related to the Son of the living God, who is for life. The Spirit as oil poured upon us is related to the Christ. For the fulfillment of God’s administration, we have life inwardly and function outwardly. Inwardly we have the Spirit who is water to be life to us, and outwardly we have the Spirit as oil upon us for function, for administration, and for the accomplishment of God’s purpose. Our body has both life and function. Within our body there is life, and outwardly there are many functions. Likewise, on the one hand, God is life, and, on the other hand, He is function.
In Matthew 16 we have Christ with God poured upon Him as the ointment. On the day Christ was baptized, John the Baptist saw the Spirit of God descend upon Him (3:16). The Spirit came not as water but as oil, because Christ was the anointed One of God for the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose.
God is both living and working. For God to be living, there is life; but for God to be working, there is ointment. Jesus is the Christ for God’s moving and administration; He is also the Son of the living God for life. First John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life.” We all need to look to the Lord for the heavenly revelation of these things.
The Lord said to Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens” (Matt. 16:17). The Lord seemed to be saying, “You are Simon, the son of Jonah, the son of a man of flesh and blood. But flesh and blood did not reveal this matter to you. It was the Father in the heavens who revealed it.” We need to look to the Father in the heavens to grant us to see that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God. We need the Father to show us that Christ has the water, the life, and also the oil, the function. Do not assume that you know that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God. This may be merely terminology to you. You may not yet have the revelation. When we were in Sunday school, we were taught that Jesus was the Christ and the Son of God. However, these terms did not mean anything to us. We need the revelation that the very Jesus in whom we believe for salvation is the Christ, the oil upon us for functioning, and the Son of the living God, the water within us for life.
First John 5:12 says that he who has the Son has the life. The Son is the very life because He is the embodiment of God. Because God’s element, essence, life, and nature are embodied in the Son, the Son is the substance, the expression, of the divine life. Therefore, if we have the Son, we have the divine life, the divine essence. If we have the Son, we have God in us as our life.
Second Corinthians 1:21 says, “The One who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God.” By being attached to Christ, the anointed One, we have the ointment for function. Do not say that you are not able to pray in the meetings or give a testimony. If you have this concept, heaven will be closed to you. Oh, we all must look to the Lord for an open heaven! Forget about what you are or what you can do, and remember that you have received the Son of the living God into you as your life and that you have been attached to the anointed One. Because you have been attached to Him, the ointment upon Him is flowing down to you. Forget your weakness, dullness, or sense of nothingness. Although we are nothing, we have been attached to the anointed One. We have the Son of the living God within us, and we have been attached to the Christ. Thus, we have life within and ointment without. Anyone who believes this is truly blessed by the Father in the heavens.
By nature we all are Barjonas, natural men born of natural fathers. But we also have another source, the Father in heaven. We, the followers of Christ, have two sources: a natural source and a heavenly source. On the one hand, we are Barjonas; on the other hand, we are sons of God. The Father in the heavens always cooperates with His Son. When the Son brought the disciples to Caesarea Philippi, the Father was ready to inspire Simon Barjona to see that Jesus, the Nazarene, is the Christ and the Son of the living God. Through this revelation Peter was transformed from Simon to Peter, from a son of Jonah to a son of the Father in the heavens. Thus, Peter received blessing from another source, from the Father in the heavens.
Matthew 16:18 may be translated as follows: “I also say to you that you are a stone, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The Lord told Simon that he was a stone and that He would build the church upon this rock. This rock first refers to the wonderful person of Christ, the Son of the living God, the One who is our life and who has the oil. Second, it refers to the revelation of this person seen by Peter. When we see this revelation, the revelation becomes the rock. Thus, the church is built not only on the person but also on the revelation of this person. Third, this rock refers to Peter’s declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Hence, the rock refers to three things: the person, the revelation, and the declaration.
Many Christians in Catholicism or in the denominations are familiar with the verse about Christ building His church upon this rock. However, they do not know how to be built upon this rock. In order to be built we need the person, the revelation, and the declaration. We should not only know this as a doctrine but also practice it. The person is always available, for He is both universal and local. But it is possible to talk about Christ without having the revelation of Him. As soon as we see that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and declare it, we are built. However, nominal Christians who attend a so-called service on Sunday morning only to spend the rest of the day at sporting events or the movies are not built upon this rock. But when some begin to see that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God, they are built up; for they are attached to Christ, the anointed One, and the Son of God comes into them as life. Immediately, they and He become one. It was at the juncture of confessing that Jesus was the Christ and the Son of God that Simon was changed to Peter.
Although you may not realize it, 1 and 2 Corinthians are the continuation of Matthew 16. First Corinthians speaks of Christ and the rock, and 2 Corinthians mentions the anointed One. In 1 Corinthians 1:13 Paul asks, “Is Christ divided?” and in 12:12 he says, “Even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.” First Corinthians 10:4 speaks of the rock: “All drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.” This cleft rock out of which water flows is the very foundation mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:11, where Paul says, “Another foundation no one is able to lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” If we put these points together, we shall see how to be built upon this rock. According to Matthew 16, to be built upon this rock is to see the person, to receive the revelation, and to make the declaration. This, however, is the initial stage. We need to see further that this rock is the cleft rock out of which living water is flowing.
The rock being cleft signifies Christ crucified, and the flowing of living water signifies Christ flowing through resurrection. The river flowing out of the rock is designated in 1 Corinthians 15:45 as the life-giving Spirit. Hence, the life-giving Spirit is the water flowing out of the cleft rock. The crucified Christ is now flowing out the life-giving Spirit in His resurrection. First Corinthians 12:13 says, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.” We all have been positioned to drink of this flowing water. Therefore, we continue to be built upon this rock by drinking the water flowing out of the cleft rock.
As we have seen, 2 Corinthians 1:21 says that we have been attached to the anointed One. Thus, the continuation of the building unveiled in Matthew 16 is in the drinking and the attaching. Day by day we are drinking the water flowing out of the cleft rock, and we are also being attached to the anointed One. We cannot be built unless we drink the living water and remain attached to the anointed One. By drinking we receive the water, and by being attached we are under the anointing of the oil. By drinking we receive more life, and by being attached we receive more oil. By the water within and the oil without we daily grow and are built up. This is the practical building of the church. The church is built upon this rock.
We cannot be built with others or build others up by our own endeavor. Instead, we need to drink and remain attached to the anointed One. We all need to see a vision of the person of Christ and then declare what we see, saying, “Amen, this is Christ, the Son of the living God.” Then we must go on to drink of the cleft rock in resurrection and to be attached to the anointed One. As a result, we shall be filled with water within and covered with oil without. This is the way we are built up.
The Lord’s great prophecy in Matthew 16:18 has not yet been fulfilled because most Christians are veiled and do not see that Christ today is the ointment and the life. They may know certain terms, but they do not have the revelation or the declaration. By making a declaration we testify that we have seen something. We have seen that Jesus, a wonderful person, is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He is the very embodiment of God, even God Himself. Furthermore, He is life and has the ointment. Everything God does is related to Him. Our Jesus is the Son of the living God, the embodiment of the divine substance, and He is now within us. When we receive this revelation, we can proclaim it to the universe. We also see that Christ has the ointment of God. All that God does, accomplishes, and intends is involved with Him. God within Him is life to us, and God upon Him is function to us. He has entered into us, and we have been attached to Him. Therefore, we have the life within and the function without. By declaring this we are built upon Him. In order for this building to continue, we need to drink of the water flowing in resurrection out of the cleft rock, and we need to remain attached to the anointed One and participate in the anointing. When we drink of the living flow, we receive nourishment for our growth. By remaining attached to the anointed One, we have ointment for our function. If we have both life and ointment, we shall grow and be built.
Matthew 16 mentions the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection. To be crucified means to be cleft, and to be resurrected means to flow out. The rock upon which the church is built had to be cleft so that the living water could flow out. The Lord was cleft, and in His resurrection the water flowed out. First Corinthians 15 deals with resurrection. In His resurrection Christ, the last Adam, became the life-giving Spirit. The last Adam was the cleft rock, and the life-giving Spirit is the living water flowing in His resurrection, flowing in the resurrected Christ. By drinking of the cleft and resurrected Christ, we receive the flowing water that enables us to grow and be built up.
I believe that Matthew 16:18 is now being fulfilled among us. The Lord has given us new light on the building of the church so that His prophecy might be fulfilled. I have the full assurance that many of us will see that Christ is the resurrected rock flowing with living water. After receiving such a revelation, many will spontaneously declare, “Amen, Lord Jesus. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” By making this declaration, we receive more water within and more oil without. If we declare that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God, we shall be filled with water and covered with oil. How blessed it is to be a Barjona who has seen the heavenly vision and has declared it! May we be beside ourselves with this revelation and proclaim it again and again. The more water and oil we receive, the more life and function we shall have. Then by life and function we shall become the corporate Christ, the one Body with the many members to fulfill God’s purpose.
