One of the difficulties associated with the doctrine of the “Kingdom of God” involves its relationship to the “church.” When was the “church” established? How does the church relate to the kingdom? Do they co-exist? Will they co-exist in eternity? Were first-century believers considered to be in the kingdom? When did Jesus establish the church?
Many are called
“And going on from thence…he saw…James…and John…and he called them” (Matt. 4:21).
“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples…” (Matt. 10:1.) In these two representative passages, Jesus is said to have “called” to himself specific individuals who then came to him. In both instances, a form of the Greek word kaleo is used. The word is to be noted for its connection with the Greek word ecclesia.
Kaleo means “to call, or to invite” and, in the context of specific events, it has the meaning of a call to divine cervices. Matthew 4 indicates that those “called…immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him (Jesus).” Later in his ministry (Matt. 10), Jesus called the twelve and bestowed upon them certain spiritual powers. From then on, the twelve became an integral part of Jesus’ mission.
The assembly of called-out ones
Following Peter’s emotional identification of his nature and origin, Jesus stated, “…flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father…thou art Peter, and upon this rock (no doubt Peter’s confession), I will build my church (ek-klesia)…” (Matt. 16:17,18).
Ek-klesia means “to call out, or to call out of.” In ancient Greece, it signified the convened assembly of the people. “It was an assembly where everyone had an equal right and an equal duty to take part” (New Testament Words, by William Barclay, pg. 69). It is used for the Hebrew term “qahal,” which is usually rendered “congregation.” The Hebrew term, however, is generally used when the assembly is convened by God to take care of His business. In the New Testament, the term ekklesia is most often used with Theos (God) or with Christou (Christ); i.e. the ekklesia of God or the ekklesia of Christ.
When Christ called James and John or any of the twelve wasn’t he, in effect, calling together his assembly, his “church?”
The twelve
The number twelve draws our minds to the twelve tribes of Israel. The link is confirmed in scripture: “(that great city)…had twelve gates…and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes…and the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:22).
The link is further indicated in that, when Christ reigns over the house of Jacob, the twelve apostles “shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:28).
As the twelve sons of Jacob were the nucleus of the nation of Israel, the twelve apostles were to be the nucleus of the church.
The seventy
As the mission of Jesus expanded, it was necessary for him to appoint other disciples to special responsibilities. Jesus called his followers and “appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come” (Luke 10:1).
Why seventy? In Genesis 10, seventy descendants of Noah are named; there were seventy souls who went with Jacob into Egypt (Gen. 46:27); at Elim, Israel, recently come out of Egypt, found seventy palm trees next to twelve wells of water (Ex. 15:27).
But the most likely reason stems from the circumstances which led to Moses appointing seventy elders to help him judge the people. Moses needed help to administer to the needs of the people; “And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel…and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and I will put it upon them: and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone” (Num. 11:16,17). In like manner, Jesus called seventy to help him with his work.
I will build my church
When addressing Peter, Jesus had stated he would build his church (ekklesia) indicating it did not exist at that time but was being formed (Matt. 16). In Matthew 18, the only other place where the word ekklesia appears in the gospel accounts, Jesus gives advice on how to deal with problems as they will, no doubt, occur in the assembly. There is an unmistakable link between the statements. The first speaks of building the ecclesia; the second speaks of handling problems in the ecclesia. Both chapters refer to “binding” and “loosing” with regard to the ecclesia.
How does this statement apply to Peter individually? The “binding” and “loosing” here must apply to Peter taking the gospel to the Gentiles. The phrase is associated with his having the keys to the kingdom. One of these was used when he went to the first Gentile convert, Cornelius, and then argued the case for the Gentiles before the Jewish ecclesia. The time had come to remove the strictures peculiar to the Jews and welcome all who would come as fellowcitizens of the saints.
In Matthew 18, the “binding” and “loosing” appears to involve the forgiveness of sin — in an ecclesial, rather than in an eternal sense, for only God can truly determine what sin ultimately will be forgiven.
The gates of hell
Jesus would build his church upon the “truth” of the confession of Peter. Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God; this would make him the shepherd, the stone, the branch, the root, the ensign, the redeemer and the savior. By means of his sacrifice, Jesus became the chief cornerstone, the one placed in the key position. Through his blood, we may have our sins forgiven. Being buried with him in baptism, we must continue in his word, so that the “gates of hell” (hades, the grave) will not be able to the have final victory over us.
Jesus had to conquer sin in order to open the “gates of hell.” “He was tempted in all points as we, yet without sin;” “in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people” (Heb. 4:15; 2:17).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One