"I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed." Matthew 16:19
Immediately
on the heels of Jesus' declaration that He will build His Church, He unveils an
incredible truth, "I will do it, but I will use you!" To Peter
directly Jesus says, "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom; and
whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." What Jesus gives to
Peter exclusively here is given to all disciples in 18:, 18. The issue, then,
is what does this mean?
The first
and most obvious answer is that keys are for locking and unlocking doors or
gates. The Kingdom has an entrance and the disciples are given the keys to that
entrance. The keys are not made of brass or some metal but rather the truth of
Who Jesus is and what He came to accomplish. The keys were utilized on
Pentecost Sunday when Peter stood to preach and multitudes were saved. Notice
that the text has the "giving" at a time in the future, "I will
give you."
Notice,
secondly, that the binding and loosing represents the church carrying out
Heaven's directives. It is not Heaven ratifying earth's decisions.
"Heaven, not the apostles, initiates all binding and loosing, while the
apostles announce these things," according to Charles Ryrie ( Ryrie Study
Bible.p.1506).
The
concepts of binding and loosing are idiomatic expressions from rabbinical
Judaism. These rulings either forbid or permit certain behaviors or beliefs.
What Jesus is saying is "through you, your preaching, and your writing,
Heaven will make abundantly clear the doorway into the Kingdom." Through
the work of the disciples all people can come to an understanding of God's
entrance into the Kingdom. His name is Jesus. Either we come through Him or we
do not come at all.
The
significant truth is that these keys belong to every believer up to the
present. No, we do not rewrite Scripture or concoct new revelation (that has
been settled), but we do share the age old story of Jesus and His provision and
offer of salvation. We have the awesome privilege of sharing the Gospel with
those alive in our generation. Another reason Jesus came was to give us, His
followers, the keys to His Kingdom. Have you been unlocking any doors?
Wonderfully written, Jerry. Thank you so much for the insight God has given you on this passage. I preached on this passage just last week. I found that the keys, being plural, were to be discovered by Christians when one accepts Christ at the moment of conversion.
ReplyDeleteHow? The Lord led me to John 1, which describes how John, one of the disciples, actually saw Jesus, and beheld His glory, FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH.
It seems then, that when we accept Christ, and as we are transformed into His likeness, He conveys these traits to us to be used to open the doors. Grace to open the door of authenticity and shutting the door of legalism. Truth to open the door of transparency and shutting the door of liberalism.
Blessings to you and yours,
steve foss