Answer: Jesus said that the gates of Hades would not
overcome His church, (verse 18).
MORE INFORMATION AND/OR OTHER SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
Hades is the Greek name for the place of departed
spirits, the land of the departed, that is death, generally
equivalent to the Hebrew Sheol. The "gates of
Hades" may mean the "powers of death," i.e., all
forces opposed to Christ and His kingdom. If Christ were not
to be resurrected, to defeat death, then His church would not
prevail and survive. It could not have even been
established. But Christ promises here that that will not be
the case. Peter preached a RESURRECTED Savior (Acts
2:22-24)!! And He DID burst the gates of Hades and
come forth the conqueror of death. His church will NOT cease,
because God resurrected Him from death. Thus, the promise of
death having no victory over God's children--His
church--is sure and true because of a resurrected
Savior. We, like our Savior, will not be sought and found as
"the living among the dead" (Luke
24:5). There is no fear in the first, mortal death,
because we will be raised to eternal life, and not suffer the
second, eternal death:
Hosea 13:14: [God said,] "I will
ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from
death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O
grave, is your destruction?"
Matthew 28:5-7: "The angel said to
the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking
for Jesus, Who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen,
just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go
quickly and tell His disciples: "He has risen from the dead
and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see
Him." Now I have told you.'"
Luke 24:1-8: "On the first day of
the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they
had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone
rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find
the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about
this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood
beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their
faces to the ground, but the men said to them, 'Why do you
look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has
risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in
Galilee: "The Son of Man must be delivered into the
hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised
again."' Then they remembered His
Words."
Acts 2:22-24: "Men of Israel,
listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to
you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through
Him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you
by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of
wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But
God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death,
because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on
Him."
1 Corinthians 15:12-19: "But if it
is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some
of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If
there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been
raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is
useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then
found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about
God that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise Him
if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not
raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ
has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your
sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are
lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to
be pitied more than all men."
1 Corinthians 15:50-58: "I declare
to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will
all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised
imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must
clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with
immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the
imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that
is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in
victory.' 'Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is
sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God!
He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you
know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
Hebrews 2:14-15: "Since the
children have flesh and blood, He [Jesus] too shared in their
humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the
power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who
all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of
death."
Revelation 1:17-18: "When I saw Him
[Jesus], I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His
right hand on me and said: 'Do not be afraid. I am the First
and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I
am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and
Hades.'"
Revelation 20:11-15: "Then I saw a
great white throne and Him Who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled
from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw
the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books
were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life.
The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in
the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and
death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person
was judged according to what he had done. Then death and
Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the
second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the
book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
