Hello Van8lan,

You asked about Matthew 16:18: "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."

That is the pivotal statement of Yeshua upon which the Roman Catholic church bases apostolic succession. It plays on the Greek word for rock, "Petro" and Peter's Greek name, "Petros." Some say it also plays on an image of a rock that would not be split, but that reference is more obscure.

The words of Yeshua we have in the New Testament were altered through the first three centuries. We can see a clear change between the first group of documents (Paul's epistle to the Thessalonians [around 50 CE], the earliest text, Mark [around 70 CE], the Q, or Quelle text, a lost document whose sayings appear in Luke and Matthew [likely written sometime around 50 to 70 CE]), and the later gospels, written from around 90 CE to 110 CE. The later writers added to Yeshua's story, purely and simply.

In Paul and Mark, Yeshua was the Messiah, thoroughly Jewish, who brought the Messianic message but was killed by the Romans and would return to finish rescuing Israel from Roman occupation and establish the Kingdom of Israel (Kingdom of God). By the time of Luke and Matthew, much had been added to Yeshua's life and message. We just have to go back to 30 CE, before the additions and make sure we're hearing Yeshua, not the later Christian groups that grew up and had their own agendas. If we don't, we'll be listening to people with a message they earnestly wanted the world to hear rather than to Yeshua. They had wonderful intentions, but what they added wasn't Yeshua.

Concerning the story about Peter, "Peter" was the Greek name for Simon (his Hebrew name) or Kephas (his Aramaic name). The name, "Peter," was transliterated into the Latin "Petrus," from which the English "Peter" comes. Yeshua would never had called Kephas "Peter." Yeshua was a carpenter from Nazareth, in the Galilee. He didn't know Greek. The people who spoke Greek were the later Christian groups who added to Yeshua's words. In other words, Yeshua would never have referred to Kephas as "Peter," much less have made a play on words about the Greek word for "rock," "Petros," and building a church on the rock of Peter. The little story about Peter simply would not have come from Yeshua. It had to have been added later.

In any event, Yeshua never intended to build a church as we interpret it today (a body with organized beliefs called a "church"). Even in Paul's time, the individual small groups to which he wrote were the ecclesia, a word used to describe any secular or religious gathering in a small group. They were not a "church" in the sense of an organized religion. They were house gatherings (or "house churches").

There are other reasons for knowing that's true. Those who gathered in Jerusalem shortly after Yeshua's death expected him to return any day. Why would they need a huge organization with doctrines and cathedrals? They had a loosely organized group in Jerusalem, waiting the momentary return of Yeshua. When the groups were organized in other cities, such as Antioch, Thessalonica, and Rome, they were just individual groups. Paul expected Yeshua to return in his lifetime. There was no need to build a huge organization called a church.

And so, none of the references to an ecclesia (meaning any gathering) in the New Testament refer to a monstrous organization. Yeshua, Peter, and Paul simply didn't have that in mind. And the "Petras" as a "rock" wouldn't have come from Yeshua, who knew the apostle as Kephas.

You asked,
Did he come to build a so called "church?"

Oh no. Yeshua's words were so clear, but people just don't hear them or don't want to hear them. Yeshua said the Kingdom of God is within. He said we must be born again. He never once talked about establishing a Kingdom of Israel where he would rule. He often told us we must be changed and the Holy Spirit would help us change. How much clearer could he have been. But people don't want to hear that. They want to believe someone will make the change for them, a big Divine Daddy who will keep them from having to take responsibility. Yeshua will return, they assert, banish all those not in the group to eternal damnation, and lift true believers into Heaven. People don't have to do anything to make the world a better place, be more loving, or show compassion--they just have to believe Yeshua is God and wait for him to come and beat up on all those other folks.

That's not what Yeshua said.

Yeshua didn't come to build a church. He came to you . . . and he came to me. He came to each of us when he came to his fellow Judeans, with the inspiration of God and of those who had gone before, to tell you and me, individually, that we must change within to enter the Kingdom of God. We have to be Christ like. He gave us the model, but it was up to us to change. He gave us the responsibility, but people don't want to accept it. They'd rather say "It's all their fault" or "It's the devil's fault" and wait for Yeshua to come back and take care of them so they don't have to take responsibility.

To those who say Yeshua is coming and that's all that matters, I say, "What matters is how much love you showed today for others." Yeshua said there are only two commandments: "Love God and love your neighbor." He didn't add a third, "Worship me" or a fourth, "Sit tight and wait for me to come back so I can take care of you." There were only two commandments. He tried to be clear, but he even predicted that there would be those would listen, but not hear. I would say most Christians today know the two great commands, but choose not to follow them--they place the church before them. Yeshua said we'll know who his followers are by whether they're showing love for one another. He didn't say we'll know his followers by who goes to church Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday. He didn't say we'll know who his followers are by who gives the most in the offering plate. And he didn't say we'll know who his followers are by who is a deacon or a pastor. He was very clear. We can show love best in small groups, in families, in homeless shelters, and at the dinner table. That's where we can show we're Yeshua's disciples, not sitting in rows silently listening to a preacher talk. There's no love there.

So I can't imagine why people today insist on having a church. Yeshua didn't establish a church. He gave you and me and each individual person a model to follow. Our job is to follow his model . . . period.

Love and peace, Craig