"The gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

[pocohombre]

Interesting take; so the gates can’t keep it out OR in. Jesus can enter and exit at will showing His power and dominion. And this would be connected to the quote from Origen mentioned upthread, that we inherit this immunity from spiritual death via confession of Jesus and faith on Him.

Will have to reread post on Origen. Still thinking about it, as to other meanings also, like the forces of evil, that indeed want to bring death to anything God does or makes.That is top on Satan’s resume list for creep of the year, that he helped bring death to humanity, introducing them to Hades and at the same time made an inroad into His kingdom on earth and our domain. Interesting that though Satan brings death, he preferred Christ to live, not to bruise His heel if avoidable, for he tempted Peter in saying Christ should not suffer, just after this discourse in Matthew (and as he did in the desert after 40 day fast).

 

[Isaiah45_9]

What then is your idea of what Hades is or represents? Sin, or death, persecution, something other?

Hades is whatever is against Christ’s Church. IWO, whatever it is, exactly, it will not overtake the Church. Christ has, is, and will protect His Bride. I find refuge against Hades in Christ and His Church. Whatever tries to take me away from them, I will oppose in Him, through Him and with Him.

 

[pocohombre]

We cannot separate these phrases from Cephas (Peter).

Think of how gates work. If you have a 1 acre property and you fence it, your gate will mark not only the entrance to your property but also will mark the territory for which the gate is for. Now say you expand your property to 10 acres. Now your gate will move to mark the expanded territory as yours.

If Hades prevails against the Church Christ built on Cephas. Then Hades will get to move its gate to the Church’s territory. What Christ declares is that Hades will not get to expand its territory at the expense of His Church. The Church will prevail.

“It” — is the Church built on Cephas.

Peace,

Apart from Rock/Peter stuff, I think prevail does not mean advancement or lack of it. Prevail means or talks of final outcome. For instance, Satan did advance on Peter, took “territory”, won a battle(s), for Jesus rebuked Peter harshly in this discourse, “get thee behind me Satan”. Pretty bad, not to mention Peter’s denial, thrice. Yet, as Jesus prayed, that after the sifting, after the weakness exposed, Christ is made strong in Peter and he is victorious ( he didn’t quit)…Peter would fail again, but he remained faithful, to the end. So I would say it is the same for the church. It is a war, with many battles. The church does not win them all, as we as individuals do not win them all. The church is affected any time you or I “fail” a test. The Body is not immune to our failures, yet the Body is promised to survive it in the end. Prevail intimates that there is a struggle, a war, and that indeed Satan gets points from time to time. It isn’t like a football game where the opponent never gains a yard, gets a first down etc…

 

[aidanbradypop]

My 2 pennies is this : I don’t think of the “Gates of Hell” as literal, rather, It’s all of the evil that Satan has at his disposal to stop the Church Militant. The rock, in my view, is none other than Jesus Christ, who is the head of the Church. He established His Church, and nothing Lucifer can do will destroy it. Sin may have caused divisions in the Church, but, never the less, the Church stands. Jesus said "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matt. 18:20 KJV). Jesus promised that He would be with His followers. His promise: “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deut. 31:8 ESV) I would hope that the Body of Christ becomes one before His 2nd coming, but, I’m certain it will be one after.