“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18, KJV)
This passage is one of those that a poor word choice by the translators of the King James has led to much confusion. The word for hell does not appear in this passage; the word in Greek is hades, which should be translated, well, Hades. Hades, for the Greeks, was the unknown, the place of the dead.
Some people get the image of Christ’s church weathering the assault by the forces of hell (although the word “gates” should clue them in that that interpretation is misguided). Others speak of the church assaulting the forces of evil and overcoming them. That’s a little better (it takes the word “gates” seriously), but the Bible never talks about the forces of evil as the “hosts of hell” or any such thing. This passage makes a lot more sense if we start with the correct translation: “the gates of Hades.”
Jesus says that his church will be able to overcome the entryway of the realm of the dead. In other words, we need not fear death. Yes, we may die, we may find ourselves in Hades, but our stay will only be temporary. The door can’t hold us; the gates aren’t strong enough to hold us in.
In Revelation chapter 1, the triumphant Jesus says, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:18) He entered Hades and came out with the keys. We can enter death with confidence, knowing that our Lord has the power to free us from its power.
It’s a powerful message. Let’s not let it get lost in translation
OOHOOHOOH!
This is one of my favorites! Geographic theology at its finest!
Several fun and interesting points:
Caesarea Philippi was, basically, the Vatican of Pan worship in the 1st century. The Greeks named it Panias in honor of the demigod.
Ancients, especially water-fearing Jews, believed that groundwater rose up from the land of the dead — if you drowned and died, you sunk down straight to Hades, and caves out of which streams flowed were portals to the underworld.
The spring at Caesarea Philippi once flowed directly from the mouth of a cave set into the hillside. There has since been an earthquake; now it comes forth from a different spot.
Ray Vander Laan writes:
“To the pagan mind, then, the cave and spring water at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld. They believed that their city was literally at the gates of the underworld—the gates of hell. In order to entice the return of their god, Pan, each year, the people of Caesarea Philippi engaged in horrible deeds, including prostitution and sexual interaction between humans and goats.
“When Jesus brought his disciples to the area, they must have been shocked. Caesarea Philippi was like a red-light district in their world and devout Jews would have avoided any contact with the despicable acts committed there.
“Standing near the pagan temples of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Peter boldly replied, ‘You are the Son of the living God!’ The disciples were probably stirred by the contrast between Jesus, the true and living God, and the false hopes of the pagans who trusted in dead gods.
“Jesus continued, ‘You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.’
“Though Christian traditions debate the theological meaning of those words, it seems clear that Jesus’ words also had symbolic meaning. His church would be built on the “rock” of Caesarea Philippi—a rock literally filled with niches for pagan idols, where ungodly values dominated.
“Gates were defensive structures in the ancient world. By saying that the gates of Hades would not overcome, Jesus suggested that those gates were going to be attacked.
“Standing as they were at a literal gate of Hades, the disciples may have been overwhelmed by Jesus’ challenge. They had studied under their rabbi for several years, and now he was commissioning them to a huge task: to attack evil, and to build the church on the very places that were most filled with moral corruption.
“Jesus presented a clear challenge with his words at Caesarea Philippi: He didn’t want his followers hiding from evil: He wanted them to storm the gates of hell. ” — Faith Lessons with Ray Vander Laan
Nick here: Too often our churches are complexes fortified with walls and opaque windows to protect us from contamination and to keep sinners away. Why can’t we trust the Spirit to protect us as we move outside the camp, where Jesus is?
Nick,
If RVL is right, that’s a rather unique usage in the Bible. Or can you think of some other reference to Hades being a source of evil in the New Testament?
Grace and peace,
Tim
I think RVL is suggesting that Jesus specifically chose Caesarea Philippi for this lesson because of the juxtaposition of two mighty enemies — Death (symbolized by the gate to Hades) and Sin (being acted out by the Pan-worshippers).
I don’t know that Scripture would directly refer to Hades/Sheol as a source of evil — it might just have been too obvious — they never explain fertility worship, they assume that their audience knows it only too well. And the ancients believed that the fertility gods (Baal and Asherah in the Hebrew Scriptures, and Pan, et al, by the time of Jesus) retreated to the underworld when winter came, and returned from there for spring.
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