Our Primary Purpose is to Set Captives Free and Make Disciples

Setting captives free through the proclamation of the gospel.

I want to share with you some of the last words that Jesus spoke before He ascended to the right hand of the Father, to begin His heavenly rule.  Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-19: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples!” In this present evil age, in which Satan is the god (Ephesians 2:2), we are called to take the authority of Christ and through the preaching of the word of the cross (the gospel) to enter the very gates of Hades to set the captives free. 

The entire gospel message is centered around the promise that Jesus would build His ekklēsia and the gates of hell would not prevail against it.   In this text Jesus uses the Greek word Hades means underworld or a place of death. 

Hades then represents the domain of Satan, and the gates of Hades represent all that opposes God's will. 

[1]Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus chose to introduce the concept of his ekklēsia on this earth, was especially unique (Matthew 16:17-19).  It stood at the base of a cliff where a spring of water flowed, and it was called the gates of Hades.  Historians say at one time, the water ran directly from the mouth of a cave set in the bottom of the cliff.  It was in a lush area near the foot of Mount Hermon in Israel.   The city had a history that was dominated by immoral activities and pagan worship.

In Old Testament times, this northeastern area of Israel became a center for Baal worship which was the practice of ritualistic sex acts and human sacrifice (Judges 3:3; I Kings 12).  Later Caesarea Philippi became the religious center for the worship of the Greek god, Pan.  In the cliff that stood above the city, local people-built shrines and temples to Pan. Years later, when the Romans conquered the territory, Herod Philip rebuilt the city and named it after himself.  However, Caesarea Philippi continued to focus on the idolatrous worship of false gods and paganism.

Historian Ray Vandeer Lan says, “to the pagan mind, the cave and spring water at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld, where fertility gods lived during the winter. They believed that their city was literally at the gates of the underworld or the gates of Hades. The pagans of Jesus' day commonly believed that their fertility gods lived in the underworld during the winter and returned to earth each spring. To entice the return of their god each year, the people of Caesarea Philippi would perform ceremonies engaging in ritualistic sex acts which even included bestiality.”

Now picture Jesus standing with his disciples in this location, pointing to the gates of Hades as the target of his ekklēsia’s mission and mandate.

He was very strategic and made sure he took the twelve to this exact point so there would be no misinterpretation or confusion about what he was calling them to do. [2]This was a place notorious for pagan worship, precisely the sort of setting Jesus deliberately chose for his announcement. Sitting in this location he was clearly presenting his ekklēsia as a solution for a pagan world and brought his disciples here so that his words would have maximum impact. 

In addition, I believe by implication of location Jesus was also showing his Jewish disciples that his ekklēsia would be made up of both Jews and Gentiles.  It was not something they fully understood, but Paul would later clarify to us concerning the mystery of the ekklēsia.  In Ephesians 3:6 Paul says that “Jews and Gentiles would be fellow heirs, fellow members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” 

Now just after Jesus says that he will build a community of living stones that is so expansive with energy that not even the gates of Hades will be able to keep it out (Matthew 16:18).  He then says in verse 19 that I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.  Now what do keys do?  Keys unlock doors. Think about the keys that you possess.  In the New Testament—keys are symbolic of spiritual power and authority.  The keys in your possession represent the right and privilege that you have enabling you to enter through a doorway. 

In Jesus' days, cities were built with walls around them and the way into the city was through a gate.  The city gate was usually made of some type of metal, which made it very hard to penetrate. Jesus wasn’t talking of gates to keep the enemy out of the ekklēsia. [3]Jesus was saying the gates of Hades could not stand before those advancing under the power of the gospel.  [4]Just as Jericho could not stand before the children of Israel as they obeyed the command to occupy the Promised Land, so the gates of Hades cannot stand against the advancing ekklēsia.

It is important to clarify that this perspective does not endorse dominion theology; rather, in the present age, individuals are afforded the opportunity, upon hearing the gospel, either to accept the message of salvation or to decline it. 

[5]The church (ekklēsia) does not implement God’s kingdom by force but bears witness to it.  [6]The early church (ekklēsia) conquered not by coercion but by proclamation. Notably, Jesus’ death and resurrection precede His disciples in passing through these very gates. In his inaugural sermon to the newly established ekklēsia, Peter declares that Jesus entered Hades, announcing His triumph through the resurrection and thereby conquering death, Hades, and the grave (Acts 2:31) demonstrating the responsibility of the ekklēsia to preach the gospel in this age until Christ returns.

As a result of Christ victory over death, Hades and the grave Colossians 2:15 says he “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in the cross.”  Jesus recovered the keys of the kingdom.  He handed those keys to whoever would identify with his name.  In Revelation 1:17 - 18 Jesus says, “I am the first and the last and the living one. I died and behold I am alive forevermore and I have the keys of death and Hades.” 

Jesus was saying his ekklēsia would have the power and authority to unlock those bound by corruption, lying, witchcraft, false religion, sexual immorality, drunkenness, strife, greed, addictions and basically what Paul called the works of the flesh.  The gospel is the power to set captives free through the preaching of the word of God and is not found in our own ability, but the power displayed through the message of the cross. 

Satan is holding people captive in his walled cities of sin and spiritual death.  We are promised that he cannot prevail if we will use the keys of the kingdom of heaven, which is the authority Christ has given us in His name, to set the captives free.  Our responsibility is to bring the gospel to these gates.  We accomplish our mission through prayer and proclamation of the gospel to open the eyes of the blind to the truth that’s in Christ.  Spiritual gifts are keys we have each been given to fulfill the purpose of setting captives free and making disciples.

[1] R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, (NICNT), p. 622.

[2] N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, p. 339.

[3] Craig Keener, The Gospel of Matthew, p. 427.

[4] G.K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology, p. 567.

[5] N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, p. 208.

[6] Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church, p. 236.