De ning Biblical Standards for Leading People............. 87

the meaning of “this rock” is not the most signi cant part of this passage as we consider a call to ministry. What is more important to consider here is the metaphor of the gates of Hades not prevailing and what these gates will not prevail over. We will take the latter rst.

What will the gates of Hades not prevail over? e only two realistic options seem to be “this rock” or “My church.” In Greek, all three words—rock, church, it—match in gender and number4, so linguistically either option would work. However, church is the noun nearest in proximity to the pronoun in question. Normally, unless context does not allow, a pronoun is considered to refer to the closest noun that matches in gender and number. erefore, the only sensible choice is that the church of Christ is that which the gates of Hades will not overpower. But what about the strange metaphor that gates will not prevail?

Normally gates are not considered o ensive weapons. ey are not that which overpower or overtake enemies. Quite the opposite. ey usually protect against the enemy

in which Jesus is using a wordplay indicated by the similarity between Peter’s name and the Greek word for rock. If this is what Jesus meant, perhaps it was foreshadowing Peter’s role as the leader and founder of the Jerusalem church on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). e second and third possibilities are closely related but distinct. Jesus may have been referring to the act of confessing that Jesus is the Christ, a profession for which Peter serves as the model. If this is the meaning, then the idea is that Jesus would build his church on the same confession of other believers throughout the ages. Finally, Jesus may have been referring to himself, the content of Peter’s confession, as the rock. If this is the meaning, then the idea is that Jesus would build his church on the fact that he is the promised Messiah, the content of the gospel. is author takes the interpretation described in the third category, based on the context of what Jesus said next. For a more detailed discussion of what is meant by “this rock,” see Blomberg, 251–54; and R. C. H. Lenski, e Interpretation of St. Matthew’s Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1964), 624–28. 4 All three words are in the singular feminine form.