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The Keys to the Kingdom

Matthew 16:13-20

Proper 16a
August 21, 2005

Matthew 16:13-20

[13] Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” [14] And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” [15] He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” [16] Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” [17] And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. [18] “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. [19] “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” [20] Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

Matthew 16:13-14

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

Jesus was not interested in what the crowds said in the manner of an adolescent unsure of his identity. What Jesus was doing with these questions was helping his disciples differentiate him from:

The prophets;
Other historic religious leaders;
The viewpoint of the religious contemporaries of his day—the interpretation that the Messiah would be a conquering king establishing Israel as the premier world power.

It would be easy for Jesus to tell his disciples these things. However, by allowing them to wrestle with these differences themselves, their understanding immeasurably deepened. Jesus allows them to witness his works, hear the attacks of the Pharisees and come to their own understanding about his messianic claims. There is no better model of teaching than this four-part formula used by the greatest teacher in history. Invite, model, teach and send.
Rather than telling, selling, or preaching; Jesus models the expectations he has of followers and then lets his action do the rest of the talking. Do we teach people like that? Do they watch the way we live and say; “You must be a follower of Christ?” Do they see Jesus’ type of Messiah in us: Sacrifice, service, compassion, and justice? Do they say; “I know you are Christian by your love!”

All of us can use a little more focus on the consistency between our words and our behavior. We need to ask: “Can others tell what we believe by the way that we behave?”

Matthew 16:15-16

[15] He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” [16] Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

“But who do you say that I am?”

This is the confession that stands at the heart of Matthew’s gospel. In this revelation we see the divine revealed through Peter to history. We see that Jesus is the Messiah foretold by Scripture. The disciples had recognized Jesus’ unique abilities in Matthew 14:33: And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!” However that seemed to be more a statement of momentary awe (they were, after all, sinking into the lake when Jesus rescued them). This personal statement by Peter is away from crowds, away from the prying eyes of religious leaders. This statement is not the product of amazement and awe, it is the admission of personal commitment; the key that opens the gate to heaven.

This statement is highly personal. It is not, “Who do the Scriptures say I am?” “Who do the crowds say I am?” It is the question which each of us must ultimately answer, “Who do you say I am?”

“You Are The Christ”

Jesus is not a great man, a leading prophet or the beginning of a movement (or even a religion). He is Son of God, unique in creation, salvation to sinners. He is either Son of God or delusional liar but he cannot be both.
Like Peter, we too are asked the question, “Who do you say I am?” We are asked to differentiate Jesus from the masses or even the unique leaders of history. We are also asked to dilineate between our understanding of the Messiah and the cultural ideal of a God who just saves me. This is exactly what the disciples were challenged to do. By saying Jesus was the Messiah they had to give up the concept of Christ as conqueror and embrace Christ as Servant. The Christ they knew came to suffer and die. The Christ the culture proclaimed would overthrow Rome and rule the world. Which one do I name as my Messiah? Do I see a Jesus that fits into my ideology of “getting ahead,” or a Jesus to whom I must bend my knee and serve? How do I define the “power” of Jesus? The power to rule or the strength to serve. That response, like Peter’s response, is the key to salvation.

Matthew 16:17-18

[17] And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. [18] “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

“Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you...”

Lest he take any pride in his understanding of God’s way; Jesus reminds Peter that his revelation comes from God’s blessing—not from Peter’s intelligence. When we truly know Jesus as servant-messiah it neither comes from our scholarship or IQ. It comes from our humility. To truly know Jesus is to realize that although I am a sinner, he still loves me. This is what Nicodemus couldn’t comprehend with all his “head knowledge.” It is what the religious leaders couldn’t get with all of their political savvy. It is also what Pontius Pilate couldn’t figure out with all of Rome’s power behind him.

Peter got it because he had no one else to turn to, he had left everything else behind; “Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life [John 6:68].”

We fully know Jesus when we place ourselves in the position of Peter. When we finally realize nothing else will give us eternal life. After we have tried to find eternity in power, wealth or knowledge only to see how they all come up empty, then we are ready for the revealed Messiah.

“Upon this rock I will build My church”

Here is a play on words that is critical to research if we are going to understand the fullness of our Lord’s statement to Peter. In the Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary, authors Robert B. Hughes and J. Carl Laney put it like this:
Peter (Petros in Greek) means “a movable rock or stone.” The word translated “rock” (petra in Greek) means “an immovable rock formation or rock mass.” Scholars have debated whether the “rock” was a reference to Peter or the truth of Peter’s confession—that Jesus was the divine Messiah.1

Was Peter a rock while Jesus is the rock upon which the church will be built? Was Peter The Rock upon which Christ would build his church? The apostle was unquestionably a leader in the early church, although not necessarily the leader. The leadership of the church fell to the “Apostle’s and the brethren” who were less authoritatively driven to lead the church than Holy Spirit influenced to be available to God’s will.

Examine how the Holy Spirit guides the church to extend beyond Jewish parameters. Peter was guided by an angel to see the power of the Holy Spirit had already descended upon a Centurion’s household. He then goes to tell the other apostles that they have to play catch-up with God. As the apostle’s were making rules about who could and couldn’t be baptized, the Holy Spirit was already out confirming Gentiles. (See Acts 10 and 11).

Later Peter backslides from his openness to Gentiles and it is Paul who castigates him. Brother to brother, there seems to be no hierarchal sense of power in these exchanges [Galatians 2:9]. Although Paul states that Peter was entrusted with the circumcised while Peter was entrusted with the uncircumcised.

Galatians 2:7

But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.
Does this mean there were two churches and two leaders. Paul repudiates that:

1 Corinthians 13:13-15

(13) Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (14) I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, (15) so that no one would say you were baptized in my name.

Hierarchachal authority? Not according to Paul. Let your actions speak of the Spirit’s authority. What about Jesus?
Here is how Jesus describes authority for his church:

Matthew 23:8-11

(8) “But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. (9) “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. (10) “Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. (11) “But the greatest among you shall be your servant.

Rather, here is image of authority that Jesus gives directly to Peter:

John 21:18

“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.”

More important to most of us than lines of authoritative succession is this, Peter—the rolling rock—would be called to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. During his silent years, when Peter left Jerusalem, most scholars believe he traveled as far as Babylon, we know he also went to Corinth, Samaria, Lydda, Joppa, Caesarea, and Antioch before finally spending nine months in the worst Roman hellhole called Mamertine.

Mamertine was a deep cell cut out of solid rock at the foot of Rome’s capitol. It had two chambers, one over the other. The only entrance was a small hole in the ceiling and the bottom hole was called the death cell. Light never entered it and it was never cleaned. The stench alone generated a poison gas fatal to many inmates. Peter is said to not only have survived nine months there chained upright to a pillar, but he also converted his jailers, Processus, Martinus and forty-seven others.2

What allowed Peter to endure such persecution? It was the immovable rock; Jesus Christ. If he had any doubts about the Lord’s Messianic claims, wouldn’t it have been revealed in those nine months? But he was firm in Jesus, his doubts left on the shores of Galilee at Capernaum. He adamantly knew Jesus was “the Son of God.”

Matthew 16:19-20

[19] “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” [20] Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

“I will give you the keys...”

The “church” [ecclesia] is a term that translates into “the assembly of those called out.”

Are we that church? Are we “the assembly of those called out” founded on a rock that will never be moved? We should be fearless in our efforts to live the good news. We should never hold back because, “I’m not comfortable” or “I’m not confident.” Comfort, confidence and ultimately competence only come with action and Christ has promised to give us the Holy Spirit to complete our cause:

Mark 13:10-12

10 “And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. 11 “And when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.”

No matter what... Jesus is the Messiah—servant and savior—no matter what! Even “the gates of Hades will not overpower” that truth.

Jesus promises to give Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Those keys open the door to the authority that God has invested in his son, Jesus Christ. It is the authority to do all that Jesus did if just two or three of us act in his character (the word “name” also means character). If we act with Jesus’ character, we will receive Jesus’ power. And, what is the character of Jesus? How is his power to be used?

Luke 4:18-19

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are downtrodden, 19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

To the extent that Peter served the mission of Jesus; he acted with the authority of Jesus Christ. But, this power wasn’t reserved for Peter; it was also given to the rest of the disciples later in Matthew:

Matthew 18:18

[18] “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

Yet, before passing on that power, Christ made a very important statement. A conditional statement for reception of the power of God:

Matthew 18:3-6

3 And said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 “And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

To receive the power of God we must:

Take on the servant nature of his son;
Humble ourselves like a child; and
Become advocates of God’s littlest children—the most vulnerable of this world.

Am I acting with the authority (the keys) of the kingdom? Is my church? Are we the Ecclesia preached by Christ; “The assembly of those called out?” Is our authority marked by our humility and displayed in our servant attitude especially to the least, little one. The one Christ sat on his lap and loved so ardently? If yes, than we too are rocks built upon the foundation, we have the power that even Hades cannot overcome. We too are given the “Keys to the Kingdom.”

Notes

The Search for the Twelve Apostles, William Steuart McBirnie, Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, (c) 1973, pp 66-67

About the Author

Jerry Goebel is a community organizer who started ONEFamily Outreach in response to gang violence and youth alienation in a rural community in Southeastern Washington. Since that time, Jerry has worked with communities around the globe to break the systemic hold of poverty by enhancing the strengths of the poor.

A primary philosophy of ONEFamily Outreach is to teach; “poverty is a lack of healthy relationships.” And, a primary focus of ONEFamily Outreach has been to break down the barriers of poverty through creating “cultures of intentional courtesy.”

As well as having developed ongoing mentoring outreaches in his own community, Jerry travels extensively to work with church leaders, community governments, and educators.

Jerry has received five popular music awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, a Best Educational Video Award from the National Catholic Education Association, and a lifetime achievement award from the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry for living Gospel Values.

To contact or book Jerry for a presentation in your area write or call:

Jerry Goebel
ONEFamily Outreach
jerry@onefamilyoutreach.com
http://onefamilyoutreach.com
(509) 525-0709

Copyright Notice

Scripture Quotations noted from NASB are from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION of the bible. Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

The New Testament Greek Lexicon based on Thayer’s and Smith’s Bible Dictionary plus others; this is keyed to the large Kittel and the “Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.” These files are public domain.

The Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon is Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Lexicon; this is keyed to the “Theological Word Book of the Old Testament.” These files are considered public domain.