Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 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 Bar-Jonah! 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 gates of hell 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.” (Matthew 16:13-19)
How many passages of Scripture are commonly misunderstood? There are a good many, to be sure, but not always for the same reason. Sometimes a passage is misunderstood because of a commitment to a particular hermeneutic (that is to say a commitment to an interpretive scheme). How a dispensationalist reads Matthew 24 and how a covenant theologian reads it is different because of the framework they have adopted. They cannot both be right (although, logically, they could both be wrong) so someone is misreading that text.
People also misunderstand texts because they treat them as mere slogans without a context. They use them like quips which apply well to t-shirts and bumper stickers. They make us feel inspired and confident! Of course which example could be more to the point that Philippians 4:13? Paul said, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Therefore I can be the next Michael Jordan, or be successful like Elon Musk… that’s what that verse means… right? I suggest reading all of chapter 4 of Philippians, more slowly and carefully, in order to understand that verse more wholly.
Very often people misunderstand texts because they want to. They take them out of context, as in the above example, but they do so with less of an air naïveté and more with the kind of intent we see from Satan quoting Scripture to Jesus in Matthew 4. “Doesn’t the Scripture say…” fill in the blank. Many Christians have been preached to by unbelievers who remind us that the Bible says “God is love.” This obviously means that God would never tell anyone to turn away from any behavior that makes them happy. Again, “Jesus says ‘do not judge lest ye be judged’ so how dare you judge me! You are wrong for judging people!” Well, if that’s your judgment, I suppose. But never forget the same one who tells us not to judge (in a hypocritical manner) elsewhere tells us that he will himself say to those who continue in their sin “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” And Jesus also commands his followers to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” So you might say Christians are supposed to tell people how God wants them to live their life.
But there is another category of misunderstanding texts which amounts simply to the lack of careful reflection. Well meaning, usually more astute in their Bible study, Christians still make goofy mistakes. It’s silly, really, we all know better but we just aren’t being careful. For example take the statement by Jesus, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” If you have been a Christian for any amount of time you’ve definitely heard this quoted, you’ve read it yourself, probably more times than you can count. Nevertheless, there is a simple, yet profoundly important, mistake that many of us have made in their consideration of this text. Here it is, are you ready?
Gates don’t march.
Think about the language of this statement. Go ahead and look at it in its context (I gave it above). Ask yourself an important question, “Which kingdom is under siege in Jesus’ view?” Gates don’t march. The gates of hell are not “advancing” on the kingdom of God. It is the other way around. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church… as it lays hell under siege.
My understanding of the concept of a “siege” has been helped in recent years, as I have studied texts like Herodotus, Homer, and other such works. I have come to have a better understanding of ancient war tactics and operations. The concept of a siege entails completely surrounding and cutting off a city (usually walled and fortified with strong gates) so that no one, and no thing, may come in or out. They cannot receive aid from allies, they cannot make trade or commerce outside the city, they are cut off from their crops that lay beyond the wall, and maybe even from major water sources.
Depending on the stored provisions of a city a siege could last anywhere from 3 days to many years. Troy was supposedly under siege for about 10 years before it fell. Babylon, when Cyrus took it, had no fear of him because they knew they had ample provisions to outlast him (although they didn’t expect him to reroute the Euphrates river and walk in by the river bed underneath the wall…). Jerusalem, in 70 A.D., was laid to siege by the Romans and Eusebius and Josephus describe the misery which ensued as they ran out of food and as sickness broke out in the walls. The ultimate success of a siege depends upon resources. Who has enough resources to outlast the other. Generally speaking, the ones laying the siege will eventually succeed as long as they have enough support to keep the troops happy and fed.
Well, my friends, Jesus made clear that he was declaring a siege on Hell. It is not the other way around. Hell will not simply fail to overcome heaven in a full frontal assault, rather, Jesus says he has already run the enemy back to their fortress and he is still on the attack. The Christian mission is to lay siege to Hell and Jesus assures us that its gates won’t last. How could it? The Lord’s army is infinitely supplied by the one who creates ex nihilo whatever they need. He owns everything and his provisions do not dry up or run out.
Just as a city falls when its supply lines are cut off, because they starve to death, the church is cutting off Hell from its supply line. No longer are we to let Hell glut itself on the souls of mankind. We are to take the gospel to every man, woman, and child on the planet until the siege has taken its full effect and Hell starves. In the end Death itself is cast into Hell and they can just feed on each other.
Jesus promised us the victory and for 2,000 years Christians have believed him. Imperfectly, of course, but they believed him and the gospel spread across the world and bore fruit. We built culture, cathedrals, made music, wrote literature and philosophy, created hospitals and universities. But today the church of America acts like it no longer believes Jesus. Most Christians are rolling over and dying spiritually, intellectually, and so on, while they secede ground to godless fools and cowards.
But, I say, to Hell with that. Literally.
I write to you today to ask you to check your mentality about where we stand. Have you given up? Maybe you’ve never gotten up in the first place. Repent. Believe Jesus’ words that Hell will not prevail, that it is on the run, that we are overrunning its gates! Change your attitude from being defeated and depressed to that of a conqueror and kingdom builder. It is not time to sit on our butts, do nothing, and give up. It’s time to press the charge!
That’s what Study The Great Books is all about. We are pressing the attack by building Christ centered, Christ exalting, classical Christian curriculum that will help students and teachers to become kingdom building, devil trouncing, victorious, critical thinking, persuasively speaking, poeticizing, music making, art producing, literature writing, moms, dads, lawyers, medical professionals, business owning, truck driving, classroom teaching, conquerors for Jesus. That’s what we are doing.
What are you doing?
It doesn’t have to be grand, it just has to be forward moving in the confidence that Jesus has already declared victory and the devil and his angels are losing. You might not always see it, but it is the case. “If Satan cast out Satan, how then does his kingdom stand?” If the godless kill their own children, who will they teach to be godless? Your kids, but only if you let them. If the godless cut out their reproductive organs, who will they disciple? Your kids, but only if you let them. If the godless won’t produce children then how will they continue? They are their own worst enemy.
So, Christian, you have already won. Act like it! Raise your children, love them, hug them, read the Bible to them, go to church every Sunday, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual song, pray together as a family, model love and patience and forgiveness, confess your sins to them and in front of them, show them what godly repentance looks like, show them how to love a wife or a husband, be faithful, cut yourself off from sources of sin and model boundaries. We have already won. Just raise your kids for Jesus and keep the world’s hands off of them!
And don’t forget this, sometimes those who seem furthest from Christ are actually the closest. No one is beyond the mercy of Jesus Christ to save. Tell your neighbors about Jesus. “Who is my neighbor?” Your neighbor is everyone who has need…and we all need Jesus.
Fight for truth, fight for goodness, fight for beauty! Jesus wins. Hell loses. It is written.
Whenever I despair, I think of St. Paul and the sailors smashed up on the shore of Malta, which has about 10 places one can wreck a ship and not be ground into paste. Surely Paul knew his fate in Rome. Yet he did not flee. He knew things would carry on without him. It was written before it was written!
Amen brother!