Dear All,

What do people understand this particular verse to mean (taking into account, of course, its context)?

Matthew 16:13-20 (ESV)
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock [2] I will build my church, and the gates of hell [3] shall not prevail against it. 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 loose on earth shall be loosed [4] in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

[2] 16:18 Peter sounds like the Greek word for rock
[3] 16:18 Greek the gates of Hades
[4] 16:19 Or shall have been bound . . . shall have been loosed

Cheers,

Timbo

Jesus is saying that he will build his church on the basis that he is the Christ spoken about by the prophets and that he is the Son of God, and on that basis the Church will be built.

He then speaks about the gates of Hell will not be able to keep out the good news,that the church will break down the gates of hell.

He is giving Peter and subsequently the church the authority to bind and to loose, it is up to the individual to act, I notice that Jesus says I will give you, not I have given, I think the keys spoken about here is the power of the Holy Spirit, whom Peter had not recieved, the greek rendering is to do exactly as it is writen - what is bound on earth will be bound in heaven, what is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven.

We see many times of the Holy Spirit coming in power and binding the hold of hell on people and loosing freedom instead, such as at peters first recorded sermon 3000 odd got saved.

God has given us the authority for us to weild, we have been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven and a lot of that lies in the area of prayer, in prayer we ask God to bind the hold the evil one has on unbelievers, in prayer we ask God to loose his Holy Spirit on unbelievers so that they will have Christ revealed to them.

(16:17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.)

Peter (church) was also given the gifts and authority to loose people from the grasp of satan through sickness, infirmity and demonistation, Jesus allways spoke about sickness coming about from the evil one, not once did he say God sent sickness, having said this God does allow sickness for his glory to be revealed in its healing - such as the blind man.  Jesus says of the hunchbacked lady that she had been bound by satan, now he is saying that satan will be defeated and we have the power to overcome him.

I have edited the last portion of my comment as it was out of line and I was out of line in my reply.

craig

Craig,

Thanks for explaining your view on this passage in such detail.

Timbo

:-)

The periphrastic verb forms (future indicative + perfect passive participles) are unusual in the NT, and so a little puzzling here in Matt 16:19. Clearly the ESV has chosen to ignore any perfect force in their translation, but it fails to explain why such an unusual form is used here when, if the meaning were as the ESV has rendered it, more straightforward Greek would have sufficed. Thus I would render (with the NASB and the footnote in the NIV and ESV) something like:

… and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth shall have been released in heaven.

This also avoids the notion that God (in heaven, so to speak), is constrained to merely ratify decisions made by people on earth. Rather, it fits well with the tension between divine sovereignty and human freedom exhibited throughout the Bible. (I should note that I find the rendering “loose” to be somewhat archaic and inappropriate in modern English translations!)

To my mind, “keys” represents some degree of control over admission to the kingdom of heaven, and so is most likely a reference to the gospel, for through proclamation of the gospel some are admitted to heaven, but others are excluded (there is ample illustration of this in Acts).

Precisely what is being bound or released is, however, less clear. The neuter pronoun suggests a thing not a person (whatever rather than whoever), although there appears to be a precedent in Matt 18:18 for reading the neuter pronoun in reference to people (since the expression “truly I say to you” elsewhere in Matthew makes reference to the preceding material).

In light of this, it is likely that Matt 16:19’s reference to binding and loosing is at least related to admission to the kingdom and so the gospel. However, the use of the neuter pronouns rather than the masculine suggests to me that we cannot rule out a broader reference in Jesus’ words here. Thus I think it reasonable to say that Jesus’ the immediate reference for Jesus’ words lies in control over who has access to the kingdom of heaven, but that it probably cannot be confined to this alone.

Consequently it is worth noting that elsewhere “bind” and “loose” (or better, “release") are used together to refer to untying an animal (Matt 21:2; Mark 11:2, 4; etc.); marriage and divorce (1Cor 7:27); and some form of satanic oppression (Luke 13:16). It is this last reference which lends some validity to the form of Craig’s prayer which has prompted some discussion previously.

Enkidu,

Thanks also to you for your explanation.

Timbo

Matthew 16:19 - What does this mean?

Enkidu Jones said

To my mind, “keys” represents some degree of control over admission to the kingdom of heaven, and so is most likely a reference to the gospel, for through proclamation of the gospel some are admitted to heaven, but others are excluded (there is ample illustration of this in Acts).

From reading the NIV study bible, in Acts 2, I quote:-

“Peter perhaps used these keys on the day of Pentecost when he announced that the door of the kingdom was unlocked to Jews and proselytes, and when he acknowledged that it was also opened to gentiles (Acts 10).
Bind...loose - Not authority to determine, but to announce, guilt or innocence.”

By my understanding, the power to “bind or loose” is not the special prerogative of Peter and the apostles, but was conferred by Jesus on all His followers.

Ken

Hi Tim

Here is a Catholic, biblical perspective on the meaning of the phrase “keys of the kingdom” with reference to the Old Testament etc.  The article covers a number of the verses you referred to but there is quite a bit of analysis inparticular on the verse you had in bold regarding the “keys”.

http://www.cin.org/users/james/files/papacy.htm

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the article.

I’m flat out at the moment but I’ll endeavour to reply specifically to any thoughts you or anyone else may raise.

Have a fantastic weekend!

YBIC, John

This passage is centred, not on Peter the person, but on the idea of the rock, the solid truth which was revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. THIS is the rock upon which the church will be built, by Jesus Himself, as God opens people’s hearts and minds to come to the same understanding that Peter had been given. All who embrace this truth are thus promised the blessings of Christ’s kingdom.

This is, indeed, what Peter himself preached at pentecost. This is what he wrote about in his 2 epistles. This is what he experienced himself: despite having tried to talk Jesus out of the “silly” notion that the Christ had to die; despite denying Him 3 times; yet he was forgiven, he was restored to fellowship, he was loved. This is what Peter further learned when he tried to deny the kingdom to the gentiles, only for God to show him that yet again he was wrong and that forgiveness was now available to ALL who believe in Jesus as the Christ, not just to the Jewish nation. Peter was about as dumb as anyone could be on these things when he thought about them himself, yet God kept on showing him the truth and accepting him as he repented and embraced the truth of the gospel.

(Just like when he jumped out of the boat and started to sink until he turned his focus on Christ. I think that Jesus naming Simon bar John as “Peter”, the rock, is a great example of our Lord’s wry sense of humour. Peter himself was not a rock and he kept on stumbling, but as he held onto the Rock he became an apostle who preached boldly about Jesus, the keystone of our faith.)

In that sense he was given the keys to the kingdom, for the task of declaring to the world that Jesus was the Christ was his first, before it then passed also to all the other apostles, especially Paul, who in turn entrusted ALL Christians (the church) with the evangelistic message. The “keys” references in the Old Testament all point to Christ as THE KEY, because as it says in Corinthians, all God’s promises are “yes” in Him.

In his first epistle, Peter declared that all believers are priests, that all Christians are being built on the rock that is Christ, the rock on whom many stumble, but who for those who believe is precious. We are being built into a spiritual house, a holy nation, for the purposes of declaring the praises of the One who has called us out of darkness into light. Peter has, therefore, provided the best commentary of all on what Matthew 16 means, making it absolutely clear that he was not the foundation stone in any sense of the word! (See 1 Peter 2)

The idea of binding and loosing, then, is simply that when we declare to people the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation, then those who accept it can be assured that they are accepted into God’s kingdom. Those who reject it cannot be given that assurance, for they have not embraced the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, know that we all have the keys to the kingdom of heaven in our hands, if we know Him who is the key and the kingdom. Whether you are Baptist, Anglican, Roman Catholic, whatever, THIS is the one thing that matters, that you know Jesus is the Christ. You need to accept no other authority than that of the Lord Himself.

Matthew 16:19 -What does it mean?

John Jacobson,

I read with interest the story about the authority of Popes according to the Catholic Church website. I did write something on another topic, some time recently, but I did not hear from you, concerning the infamy of past Popes of history.

Could you point me in the direction of the Catholic Church’s explanation of the forged “Holy Decretals”? I am interested if this is on the website also?

This was a letter, supposedly written by Emporer Constantine to the church of Rome, conferring all authority and power to Rome over the Christian world (written whilst he was living). It was discovered, and presented, by the Catholic Church in the early middle ages and was used to gain power over the christian world at that time.

Rome profited by the power of this letter, and was elevated to supreme power in the christian world partly because of it. The document was discovered later to be a forgery (some centuries later), but the damage, or required effect, had already taken place.

It was also discovered later that Constantine considered Ravenna to be the principal city in Italy heading Christendom, in his lifetime, and not Rome.

On biblical evidence, never once does Paul in his thirteen letters remotely allude to the papacy.

When Paul decided to visit Jerusalem to present his missionary action he says “James, Cephas (Peter) and John, who seemed to be pillars… gave to me and Barnabus the right hands of fellowship: that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision”. Galations 2:9
So the supposed Pope is here presented as simply ONE of the pillars of the Church, coupled with James and John - not even mentioned first.

Far from having authority over Paul, he says that by the decision of James, Peter and John, there was to be a marked division in their spheres of action. Peter was to evangelise the Jews, and Paul the heathen. Galations 2:7

Paul so completely ignores the infallibility of Peter, the supposed Pope, that he writes “When Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed”. Galations 2:2
Paul excludes without possibility of equivocation the primacy of Peter when the declares: “I was not a whit behind the chief apostles” 2 Corinthians 11:5.

But the deciding factor, is that in the New Testament are two letters written by Peter, and in neither does he give the slightest indication that he is primate in the Church. Rather he uplifts Christ. Acts 4:10-11

He says that Jesus Christ “is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the Head of the Corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” Acts 4:11-12
If Christ had need of a representative (vicar) it would mean that He intended to be absent, and not to act Himself in the Church. But Jesus is always present, as He says Himself :
“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more: but ye se Me: because I live, ye live also...ye in Me, and I in you” John 14:18-20

By admission of the Roman Church herself, the lives of some of her popes were stained with the most atrocious crimes, homicide, immorality, simony, and paganism. It is noticeable that Dante places several popes in hell and only one in Paradise. Were all these vicars of Christ?

Is the Roman Church giving people a solution to the sin in the world by insisting on these errors, or is it really just part of the problem. Is it presenting obstacles to people having a close relationship with God through Jesus. Is the bureaucracy of Rome going to change, ever?

I pray that it does change. What power would a united Church spreading the gospel message clearly have? It would be fantastic, and would bring many more people over to God’s family than is imaginable.

I hope you are well, and would love to hear from you soon brother,

love Ken