The Key

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE KEY

Matt 16:13-20

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"  14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"  16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.   19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  20 Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

NIV

Having considered the question of Jesus and the answer of Peter, we need to gain an understanding of these words of Jesus that are somewhat difficult in nature. What did Jesus mean when he said that he would build his church upon the rock? We know that Peter’s name means rock, which is the name Jesus gave him, changing his name from Simon. There have been various interpretations of what Jesus meant. One is that Jesus turned to himself, or made some gesture pointing to himself, who is referred to as the Rock, such as the Rock of our salvation. Upon this solid Rock, I stand. Certainly, the church is built upon Jesus Christ. But is that what Jesus meant? Another view is that the rock meant something that is the solid truth, and upon this truth that He is the Son of the living God, that confession of that, as Peter had just done, is how the church will be built. But both those thoughts may miss the true meaning of what Jesus was saying. The fact is that Peter was being told that he would lay the foundation of the church both to the Jews and the Gentiles. There is no question that on the Day of Pentecost, as we see in Acts 2, Peter was the one who stood up and delivered a great sermon followed by about three thousand who accepted his message and were baptized. We can just imagine the scene of that many people all being baptized, praising God for their salvation through Jesus Christ. Also, in Acts 10 the story of Cornelius having a vision and sending for Peter. There is no doubt that Peter was one of the founding fathers of the church, but not the only leading voice. We find James speaking up in the council of elders, and they followed his advice. What may have kept most protestant churches giving the proper due to Peter is the Catholic church wanting to declare Peter as the first Pope of the church. However, the point is that Jesus did speak to Peter and was making sure that Peter understood that he would be a significant part of building the church because of his hearing the voice of the Spirit revealing this truth that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. We also have to believe that the other disciples heard this exchange, and were also now keenly aware that Jesus affirmed the fact that He is the Son of the living God and they too will be a part of building the church alone with Peter. Although Peter did much for the church, others wrote gospels, and letters, as well as traveled to spread the message. How many churches did Paul and Barnabas start? How many churches did Timothy build upon that truth? What about John, Mark, and others? It was all the elders, who decided to have the people choose seven men to take care of the distribution of food, while, all of them kept themselves to the spiritual matters of the church. So, what do we do with all this? There must be a more general application that has an impact on our lives. This is not just about Peter, as everything is about Jesus, the point of all scripture is to direct us to Jesus, to turn our attention to Jesus, and accept Him as the Son of the living God. However, Jesus did say directly to Peter, that He would give to him, Peter, the keys to the kingdom and authority to bind things on earth and they would also be bound in heaven. No doubt, Peter was important in the early church, but then now we are in the post-modern church, and we must deal with whether we play any role in the church. Do we, as children of God, as brothers and sisters of the Son of the living God have that same authority which was given to Peter? When we consider all of scripture, we must believe we have been given the keys to the kingdom as well. We are told when any two of us agree about anything we ask for, Jesus says it will be done by His heavenly Father. That is binding on earth and being bound in heaven, as well as if we agree to lose it in the earth, that is let something go, then it will be let go in heaven. This must apply to all of us, along with Peter. If Peter was the only one to get the keys, then we need to worship Peter for without him we could not get in. but if Jesus gave us all the key, which he did, giving us himself the true key to getting into heaven, then we all have the key.