Today, the gospel message was based on Matthew 16:13-20. This is one of those verses that for those of us who have grown up in the church we have heard over and over again. Jesus asks his disciples "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" (NIV) They give Jesus a list of people who they say that he is and then he gets more specific and asks the disciples "Who do YOU say that I am?" Simon steps up for the group and says "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And this next part is the part that always seems to fly past me and never has really sunk into my heart. He praises Simon and says he is Peter and that "on [Peter] or this rock I will build my church..."
That's astonishing. Peter gets quite a shout out from Jesus himself. But, it's this next part where it gets confusing. After praising Peter he says further that "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." Huh?
There are many interpretations of this verse. Some say that this is Jesus handing over to his disciples the keys of who gets in and who gets out. Some say its where the Catholic church gets its Papal authority. Some say he was just speaking to Peter and that only Peter now has the golden key. But, it seems to me that Jesus is talking to all of his disciples. Just because Simon answers and Jesus' response is specifically about Simon becoming Peter, Jesus seems to be talking to those who are listening as a whole. It's not "on Peter" that he will build his church, it's those that believe by faith through the Holy Spirit's direction. Peter believe Jesus was the messiah and, guess what, Jesus says he was "blessed". The Greek word used here is actually one of my favorite words in the Bible. It's the word "makarios". Most just define it as it is in the NIV and many other translations, “blessed”. But some translate it as “happy” which seems so unfulfilling, so I went a little deeper. In a more in depth analysis at studylight.org it says, “Markarios is an adjective form of ‘makar’” and that “the idea embodied within this word is satisfaction from experiencing a fullness of something.” Then it goes on to say that the “Greek meaning becomes clear showing us that ‘Markarios’ refers to the believer in Christ who is satisfied and secure in the midst of life’s hardships because of the indwelling fullness of the Spirit.” Sorry...off topic for a second.
So why does Jesus use this word to describe Peter? I think it's because Jesus knows that in order for his church to grow, this is the only way it will happen...by those who believe. He knows that he will not live on this earth forever, so the only way others will come to know him AFTER he dies is the same way that Peter did, through his faith. It is to those people that have the keys to heaven. Time and time again the gospel message clearly states that those who believe are those who have access to the Kingdom of God. But, in addition to this, its important that we understand that those who believe are filled with the Holy Spirit, they are filled with Christ and, because of that, Jesus knows that whatever that person does, either binding or loosing, it is all done in God's name and, therefore, shall be the same in heaven.
Amazing so much from so few words. Amen! Did you see God today?
