The Keys of the Kingdom, Matthew 16:19; 18:18

This post concerns Jesus providing the keys of the kingdom.

The Keys of the Kingdom describes Jesus giving an unlocking ability to His apostles, Matthew 16:19. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall…bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall…loosed in heaven.”

Jesus asked the twelve about His reputation among the people. Mostly they said, ‘one of the prophets.’ So, He asked how they identified Him. Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Then, Jesus identified His heavenly Father as the source of Peter’s statement. Next, he added a statement about the foundation of the church He would build, Matthew 16:18-19. “you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church…”

Jesus had directed this question to the twelve. But Peter supplied the answer for all of them. To emphasize the correct application of what He wanted to say, Jesus used two different words for rock. First, consider Peter: the Greek word for Peter means small pebble. Next, consider the church: The Greek word for ‘rock’ used to build the church means ‘large rock’ like a ledge. Therefore, Jesus did not mean to build the church on Peter.

Instead, Jesus says the phrase, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” makes up the foundation of the church.

Then, Jesus speaks to the twelve, Matthew 16:19. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven….”

As clarification, see Matthew 18:18-19 (if two…agree) to show that Jesus meant these keys for the twelve, and not just for Peter.

As an application of the use of keys, Peter opened the church to believing Jews, Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,”

Opening the church to Gentiles comprised a second use of keys, see Acts 10.

Note that now everyone, Jew or Gentile, can achieve church membership and salvation.

So, what did we learn?

1.The foundation of the church lies in the Messiahship and Sonship of Jesus.

2.The twelve received the keys of the kingdom of God, not just Peter.

3.The keys opened the church to Jews and Gentiles.

For more on the Bible, click tdroberts.org or https://justchristian.com or https://podcastjustchristian.com

#foundationChurchSonshipMessiahshipJesus #keysGivenTwelve