Christ Jesus had a building plan for his church that had nothing to do with material structures.
Jesus’ plan for church had everything to do with transforming lives through the healing power of divine Love, and building spirituality and Christly love within the hearts and minds of his followers. And the work of these followers would also transform lives and promote spirituality and Christly love in the hearts of others, whose work would do the same—and on and on and on. But this church would have to be built on a firm foundation—their individual and collective recognition of the Christ, the divine Truth Jesus represented. If they built on this foundation, their work would be successful; nothing would be able to keep this church from succeeding and growing. Jesus made this clear when he asked his disciples who they thought he was. “Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” to which Jesus replied, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (see Matthew 16:13–18).
Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of the divine Science underlying Jesus’ teachings, caught Jesus’ meaning. She wrote: “Before this the impetuous disciple had been called only by his common names, Simon Bar-jona, or son of Jona; but now the Master gave him a spiritual name in these words: ‘And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter; and upon this rock [the meaning of the Greek word petros, or stone] I will build my church; and the gates of hell [hades, the underworld, or the grave] shall not prevail against it.’ In other words, Jesus purposed founding his society, not on the personal Peter as a mortal, but on the God-power which lay behind Peter’s confession of the true Messiah” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp. 137–138).
