Jesus declares clearly in Matthew 16:18 that He will build His church. This is something that He is committed to doing.

We have been seeing how Jesus came and declared that the kingdom has now come. The kingdom of heaven is not an abstract idea but is something that one can enter into. Baptism is the sign of entering this kingdom.

The church is not built on a personal relationship with Jesus nor is it on a moral life though both are important. The foundation of the church is the teaching of the apostles, found in the New Testament.

Matthew is about the invasion of the heavenly kingdom onto earthly kingdoms. 

In this section of Matthew, we read about the twelve disciples or apostles. The word disciple means “follower” and an apostle is one who is commissioned and sent out. Thus, the ones who come as disciples to follow Jesus are sent out as apostles. There are twelve of them, and the Gospels name them for us. The number “twelve” is significant because it represents the totality and fullness of God’s people in the form of the twelve tribes of Israel. 

When Jesus comes and gives the twelve authority, Jesus is performing a reset. They are so critical because it is upon these apostles and their witness that the church is built. 

The gospel of Matthew opens and closes with the theme of authority and speaks of the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven. With this in mind, let us see how these passages in Matthew help us to understand how the church is God’s kingdom.