Anchor My Faith

The Keys of the Kingdom

Scripture: Matthew 16:18-20

In this lesson we continue our study of the “church” from the previous lesson. We were working on ^{Mt 16:18} “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The mention of “church” is found in only two places in the Gospels; here in Matthew 16:18 and in Matthew 18:17. When Jesus said he would build his church, he was looking ahead in time when his disciples, his family of faith (Matthew 12:48 – 50), would be called “my church”. The church is founded on the apostles and the prophets (Ephesians 2:20), but Jesus Christ himself is the cornerstone. Jesus is saying that he will build a community of believers who will follow him well beyond his ascension. That community of believers would become known as “the church” as described in the book of Acts.

Of the church Jesus said, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” We can’t understand this from our culture but need to go back to ancient time and see that cities were surrounded by walls for protection. These walls had openings with gates to control the flow of those entering and leaving. Near these gates were places for holding courts, transacting business and deliberating on public matters. These gates were designed for keeping out evil. When saying “gates of hell” one means gates that guard against the evil purposes of hell.

Jesus continues his response and says, ^{Mt 16:19} “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you [release] on earth shall be [released] in heaven.”

A key provides one with the ability to unlock or lock a door and thus can control who can access through the door. Jesus is giving authority to Peter to admit entrance into the kingdom of heaven through preaching the gospel. This authority is subsequently granted to all who are called to proclaim the gospel. All who respond to the great commission are given this authority as we see in Mark 16:15 – 16 ESV: ¹⁵ “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” and Matthew 28:19 – 20 ESV: ¹⁹ “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The command is to go and preach the gospel and those of us who go Jesus promises to be with us as our authority.

Peter is given the authority to “bind” and to “release” and thus has the authority to exercise discipline concerning right and wrong conduct for those in the kingdom. Again, this authority in not exclusive to Peter but is extended to the church as a whole as we see in Mathew 18:15 – 18. This authority is delegated by Jesus to leaders in the church who are called to govern his church on earth, under his ultimate authority, through the application of his word.

We close this section with a command from Jesus to his disciples: ^{Mt 16:20} “Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.” Why this restriction? Is it not important that the people know that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah? It is important that the true meaning is understood, but since the concept of Christ/Messiah was widely misunderstood by the crowds, and often by the disciples themselves, Jesus wanted nothing said about this. He would continue, under his control, to inform the people who he was.

Conclusion

This was an important section in which Peter, prompted by the Father, confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus then makes a statement to Peter that has become one of the most controversial and debated passages in all of Scripture. How important it is to have other Scripture to provide clarification.