The Church

Matthew is the only Gospel that mentions the church. In chapter 15, man and what he has made of the law is set aside, and God acts in grace (Matt. 15:21-28). Chapter 16 lets us see the blessed result of God acting in grace—the church—something that was yet to be. The law governed Israel; but the church’s foundation is divine, unmovable, a Person, the Son of the living God. With the church introduced, His disciples were no longer to tell anyone that he was the Christ, the Messiah (Matt. 16:20). He also begins to show them how he must “go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day” (Matt. 16:21), all of which is necessarily connected with the building of the church. Even when the Lord returns, it will not be as the Messiah, but as Son of Man (Dan. 7; Matt. 10:23; 16:27). The Lord will come in with great power and glory, to be displayed in a much wider sphere. As Son of Man, He is the heir of all things.