“I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, AND ALL THE POWERS OF HELL WILL NOT CONQUER IT. AND I WILL GIVE YOU THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.” —MATTHEW 16:18-19, NLT
Devout Jews would never be seen going to such a place. The disciples must have been uncomfortable and shocked when Jesus led His group to what was essentially “the red light district.”
Caesarea Philippi was a place of idol worship and fertility rites, which included prostitution. Four altars had been established: one to represent Caesar, whom they worshipped as a god; another for Zeus, the prince of all gods; one for Pan, from where we get our word panic (tells you something about this God), and finally one for “the Gates of Hell.”
The location contained a deep spring, which flowed from a rock. The Jews believed that this spring was the portal from which demons came up, having been unleashed by Israel’s disobedience to God. For this reason, the location was known as the “Gates of Hell.”
So Jesus took the disciples to this place of deep darkness and asked them, “Who do men say that I am?” (Matthew 16:13), followed by “But who do you say that I am?” (v.15). And Simon Peter replied, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.” Right there before the Gates of Hell, Peter declared Jesus’ deity.
Forget Caesar, Zeus, Pan, the devil. The real God has shown up. It’s as if Jesus is putting hell on notice.
Bad news for the devil. Jesus stood at the Gates of Hell and announced, I’m coming right here to build My church. And guess what? The gates of hell are going down.
Gates were defensive weapons of warfare in Jesus’ day. The stronger they were, the better a village could withstand an assault.
Gates are the only thing Satan has left, and Jesus has all the keys. But He didn’t stop there. He turned the keys over to us. He says, I’ll be in heaven
sitting at the right hand of the Father. I’ll be praying and interceding for you. But you’re the ones with your voice and your feet and your hands that will go to the gates of hell, uproot the devil’s nonsense, and plant My kingdom. You have the keys. How amazing is that? We have spiritual weapons and the armor of God, mighty for pulling down strongholds. We have the privilege of binding and loosing (See October 16). We have the authority to use His name.
We can begin a new year strong and ready.
Jesus gave us the keys, and we get to represent His kingdom and engage in spiritual warfare with the most powerful of weapons. Jesus promised victory, and we can claim that! Don’t forget your keys.
