Then Jesus and his disciples went to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way, when Jesus was praying by himself, and his disciples were nearby, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I, the Son of Man, am?” They answered, “John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others that one of the prophets of long ago has risen.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”[1]And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.”
There are three leading interpretations of this play on words:[2]
· Jesus Himself is the rock, as Peter later testifies (1 Pet. 2:5–8). But in this passage, Jesus describes Himself as the builder of the church on the rock, so that’s likely not the meaning here.
· Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ” is the rock upon which the church is built. In this reading, a confession of faith in Jesus is the foundation on which everything else is built.
· Peter himself is the rock in that he is a representative apostle whose confession of Christ has been revealed to him by the Father. Peter acknowledged Jesus not by his name, but by his title: The Christ. In this reading, Jesus’ response is not just a statement of the obvious, but includes some type of title/role acknowledgment. Peter later writes (1 Pet. 2:4–8) that all believers have become “living stones” by virtue of their association with Christ, with the apostles as the foundation (Eph. 2:20, 21; Rev. 21:14).
I believe this “rock” is most likely the confession of faith, the acknowledgment of the Lordship of Jesus. The church is built on belief/trust/faith in Christ. But it could be that Peter is the first of many “living stones.” Maybe they both go together. The main point is that Jesus has validated that God’s church will be built on a confession of faith, whether it’s the belief, the people who hold it, or both.[3]
The gates of Hades will not prevail against it (the church)
Hades was a common ancient expression for the realm of the dead across cultures, including Jewish culture (Job 38:17; Isaiah 38:10). In Acts, it is portrayed as is the temporary abode of the dead (Acts 2:27). In Revelation 1, Jesus is described as having the keys to Death and Hades. In Revelation 20, “Death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them…then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.” So they will not prevail. They will not survive. Their judgment is sure. Meanwhile, the “gates” will not prevail against a church that confesses Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Gates are the decision-making place in the city. The plans of evil will not destroy the church or its mission. Gates are defensive. Those gates will fall. The church is meant to proactively take the power of the gospel to the very heart of evil. The power of the Gospel will break through.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.
This is in sharp contrast to what Jesus told the Pharisees,
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in” (Matthew 23:13).
I think there is more than one implication from this.
1. The key that opens the Kingdom of Heaven is the Gospel
“When the Jews made a man a doctor of the law, they put into his hand the key of the closet in the temple where the sacred books were kept, and also tablets to write upon; signifying, by this, that they gave him authority to teach, and to explain the Scriptures to the people.” (Adam Clarke)
We see this in the life of Peter. He is the first apostle to preach the message of the kingdom to:
· the Jews at Pentecost (Acts 2); about three thousand Jewish people are saved that day.
· to the Samaritans (Acts 8) who believed the gospel and received the Holy Spirit.
· to the Gentiles (Acts 10), Roman centurion’s household, who also received the Holy Spirit.
Matt. 18:18 notes that the same promise is given to them all, but Peter seems to have a unique role in starting this global spread of the gospel.
2. Those entrusted with the key are entrusted with authority (“binding and loosing”) to implement what has already been established in heaven.
The expressions bind and loose were common in Jewish temple language that meant something was either forbidden or allowed. Josephus said of the Pharisees in the time of Queen Alexandra: "They were the real administrators of the public affairs; they removed and readmitted whom they pleased; they bound and loosed [things] at their pleasure."[4] This included establishing sacred days, admitting or removing people from the Temple community, and identifying which offerings were acceptable.
The expression was common; for example, it was not unusual to hear a disagreement between rabbinical schools recorded this way: “The school of Shammai binds it, the school of Hillel looseth it.”[5] The idea was that certain things done on earth – if they were done in line with the order of God - was at the same time done in heaven. For example, when the priest on the Day of Atonement offered the two goats upon earth, they believed the same were offered in heaven; when priests cast the lots on earth, a priest also casts the lots in heaven.[6]
We see this principle of binding and loosing in this way throughout the New Testament:
· As the disciples’ rabbi, Jesus had already done this binding and loosing for His own disciples (for example, when He allowed them to take the grains of wheat in the field[7], or when he healed on the Sabbath[8]).
· Jesus tasked all the disciples with preaching the gospel and discerning God’s will (for example, calling all foods clean[9], or doing away with circumcision as a rite of initiation for men[10]).
· When “the apostles and the elders” came together in Jerusalem to consider the conditions on which Gentile believers might be recognized as fellow members of the church, their decision was issued as something which “seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (Acts 15:28).
Meanwhile, note: whatever the apostles bound or loosed on earth must have already been bound or loosed in heaven. They weren’t supposed to just be making stuff up or running with tradition or a gut feeling. It had to be biblically sound and Holy Spirit led (and we see the importance of a community leading in this kind of decision).
“Heaven, not the apostles, initiates all binding and loosing, while the apostles announce these things.”[11]
So, one way they did this was by helping the church understand how to apply Scripture or scriptural principles. We’ve already looked at a couple examples. Another way involved managing disputes or handling discipline within the church, both cases where it is important that truth is established. Paul talked about a judgment (a verdict) pronounced by the church of Corinth in which “I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present” (1 Corinthians 5:3–5). We read a more clear scenario in Matthew 18:15-20.
Go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you and repents, you have regained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that at the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector.
I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven. Again, I tell you the truth, if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.”
William Kelly writes,
“Whenever the Church acts in the name of the Lord and really does His will, the stamp of God is upon their deeds.”[12]
3. When heaven is opened, the resources of the Kingdom are available.
In an old Greek comedy, a speech mentioned somebody having “the keys of the market,” which meant they had the free use of authority to buy and eat whatever meat was sold in it.[13] If we apply that context to this passage, having the key to the Kingdom seems to include giving us access to divinely authorized heavenly resources.
What are they? The truth of the Scripture to guide us; the gifts and fruits of the Spirit that come with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; ongoing transformation into the image of Jesus; the nourishment of church community; the increasing shalom of God (peace with God, with others, within ourselves, with God’s creation). The list could go on….
* * * * * *
What does this mean to us today?
· Jesus builds His church on the cornerstone of Jesus[14] and the testimony of those who confess that Jesus is Lord and commit their lives to following Him into salvation and transformation. Jesus is the Good Shepherd of those in the Kingdom and the Door into the Kingdom. All are welcome to enter in the physical front doors of this building and join our congregational church life. I hope people near and far from Jesus and anywhere inbetween experience the love of Jesus from us when they visit or become a part of the life of this community. But walking into our front door is not the same as walking into the Kingdom of God. Our front door ushers you into our physical community; only Jesus ushers you into the eternal life of the Kingdom that begins now and never ends.
· We enter into a Kingdom that even Death and Hell cannot stop. This is not a promise that we won’t suffer or even die for the sake of Christ, or that our lives will never be impacted by the presence of evil in the world. It’s a reminder that the agenda of Heaven will defeat the agenda of Hell. Good will have the last word, not evil. The end of the story is that God wins. This is part of the hope of the gospel. God will set things right. We might not understand God’s timing, or why each chapter unfolds the way it does, but we know the end to the story.
· Jesus is the Door to the Kingdom, but He has given us a key to ‘open the door’ to the kingdom for others by our presentation of the gospel through our words and our lives. We can’t do the Holy Spirit work of drawing people to Jesus, but we can present Him by sharing the gospel and by living lives that show the transformative power of God in our lives. Just like John the Baptist, “prepared the way”[15] for Jesus, we can prepare the way for the message of the Gospel in word and deed. On the other hand, we can speak and live in such a way that people don’t want to open that door. We have to be careful. Having the ‘keys’ is a wonderful and daunting responsibility.
· Re: “binding and loosing” - We are meant to live out the reality of “on earth as it is in heaven.’ If we put boundaries and guidelines around what it means to be a follower of Jesus, it better reflect what God intended to convey through Scripture and how God intended us to apply it through the help of the Holy Spirit. If we speak to the freedoms we Christians have in Christ, they better be the freedoms God intended to convey in Scripture applied how God intended with the help of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We must be very careful the minute we step outside of an obvious teaching in Scripture and attempt to apply it to life.
· God’s resources are for our good and God’s glory. The effectual work of Jesus’ death and resurrection is a real thing that a) makes peace between us and God and b) empowers genuine peace with others. The fruit and gifts of having the Holy Spirit indwell us are real things that not only build us but build those around us. Connection in a spiritually healthy church community offers tangible experiences of the ‘the hands and feet of Jesus.’ I believe God wants us to flourish as His image bearers, as His ambassadors, as His children. He has given us what we need to do so.
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[1] Caesarea Philippi was the center of worship for a number of pagan gods such as Baal and Pan. There is pointed contrast here: Jesus is the Son of the God who is alive, unlike the pagan gods.
[2] Thanks for this handy summary, ESV Reformation Study Bible!
[3] Ephesians 2:19 to 22:“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone. In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”
[4] “Authority, Rabbinical” in the Jewish Encyclopledia
[5] Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
[6] Adam Clarke
[7] Matthew 12:1-8
[8] Mark 3:1-6
[9] Acts 10
[10] Acts 15
[11] Believer’s Bible Commentary
[12] Believer’s Bible Commentary
[13] Bengal’s Gnomen
[14] 1 Corinthians 3:11
[15] Matthew 3:3