I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with passion come and kicking down that door

- Sarah Groves, "When the Saints"

I've written here before of my love for Sarah Groves' song "When the Saints" and how it stirs within me a passion for the work of the Lord, a prayer for those afflicted in this world and respect and gratitude for those who risk their lives doing the work of the Lord and rescuing others from the darkness and control Satan has over much of this world.

Last night I was researching for a Sunday school class and came upon some old notes on "The Kingdom Community" from Matthew 16:13-20. We all know the text, where Jesus asks Peter who he says He is and Peter answers that He is the Son of the living God and Jesus then gives Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven. A few notes caught my eye, specifically on vs. 16-20:

- Hades is the region of departed spirits of the lost, but also includes the righteous who died before the resurrection of Christ

- Hell would be the Old English equivalent of Hades, the opposite of Heaven, or the Bosom of Abraham, or the Elysian Fields of Ancient Greek mythology

Jesus said "The gates of Hades will not overcome it (the Church)"...some thoughts on ancient warfare that in the context add to these words:

- ancient cities had walls for defense and invading armies, when seeking to conquer a city, would concentrate on the gate, the weakest area of defense

- they would use a battering ram to try to hammer down the gate, and the defenders would do what they could to prevent enemies from succeeding (including pouring burning oil, shooting arrows, etc.)

- the attackers would put a cover over their head or build a tower for the attackers and roll it to the city towers to gain an advantage again, and this would continue

What does this mean in the context? It helps to pictures Hades as a walled city with strong gates. Jesus is saying that His Church will be on the offense and laying seige to the city, but Hades will not be able to hold it back. In other words, God's people will break down the gates of the cemetary (Hades) and let the dead out and allow them into the Kingdom of God.

Powerful stuff!

Let me add one more idea. My point in teaching this idea this morning (though I never got to it, we ran out of time) was to propose that when Jesus instituted the Church in this text, the idea was that the Church would be on the offensive, attacking the gates of Hades, the dominion of Satan, and preaching the Good News and letting people into the Kingdom of God. Like the "man with passion kicking down the door" in the song above, the Church, envisioned by Jesus, would be kicking down the door of Satan's stronghold and rescuing people from the dominion of darkness.

Is that how the Church operates in today's world? Maybe, maybe not. I see instances where we are both on the defensive and we retreat to our fortress and I see instances where we remain in the frontier and continue our attack. In any case, it is prudent for us to understand Jesus' intentions for His Church as we seek to follow Him and spread His Kingdom to the ends of the earth.