“I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven…” Matthew 16:19
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"Delivery of the Keys" by Pietro Perugino in1481. This painting is located today in the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
“In 25 years the Bible will be a forgotten book.” Robert Ingersoll (who died in 1899)
“Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I'll be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity. “ (John Lennon, from an interview he gave in March 1966)
While talking to his disciples by the pagan temples of
Caesarea Philippi (v. 13), Jesus asks his them, “Who do you say that I am?” (v.
15). Simon Peter replied,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” (v. 16). For this answer, Jesus blesses Peter
and says, “on this rock I will build my church,” (v. 17). Jesus continues and says, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” his
church (v. 18b).
In Caesarea Philippi, one of the pagan temples to the Greek
god Pan had been built directly in front of a cave. This cave was believed to be the entrance into Hades,
the gate to hell. The Jewish
historian Josephus called this cave a “horrible precipice, that descends
abruptly to a vast depth: it contains a mighty quantity of water, which is
immovable; and when anybody lets down anything to measure the depth of the
earth beneath the water, no length of cord is sufficient to reach it. “ (Wars of the Jews, 1.21.3)
A sign at the site today reads, “The ritual sacrifices were
cast into a natural abyss reaching the underground waters at the back of the
cave. If the victims disappeared in the water this was a sign that the god
had accepted the offering. If, however, signs of blood appeared in the nearby
springs the sacrifice had been rejected.”
A drawing depicting what the temple to Pan (structure on the left) looked like in Caesara Philippi in the days of Jesus. The Gates of Hell cave was located directly behind the temple.
Christ’s words ring true today. From the Roman emperor Nero, who would burn Christians to
light his garden, to recent history when the Communists and the New Atheists
all want to stamp out religion, their efforts have and will fail. In Revelation 13 evil has its
finest hour; the beast and the Antichrist will “make war on the saints” and
attempt to “conquer them,” (Revelation 13:7). However, even here we find Christ triumphant and his
church victorious!
Jesus continued his words to Peter: “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 in heaven,”
(v. 19). As the
spokesperson of the Twelve, we certainly see Peter’s imminence in the early
church as shown in Acts chapter 1-12.
However, the authority to bind and to loosen has been
granted ALL the disciples as revealed in 18:18, and that Christ has given to
ALL in his church “the ministry of reconciliation,” (2 Corinthians 5:18). May we not lose sight of the supremacy
of Jesus Christ, even as he grants to his church the authority to act in his
name, for he alone has “the keys to Death and Hades,” (Revelation 1:18).
With these verses, the triumphant teaching ministry of
Christ has reached its climax and come to a close. A page turns.
Now Jesus and his disciples must begin the march to Jerusalem, where a
gang of murderers awaits. However,
even these killers are subject to God’s timetable, not their own. Everything will be done according
to the dictates of God, not man.
Therefore, Jesus strictly charged the
disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ (v. 20). Soon Christ’s time will come (see 26:18)
but not now, not yet.
Knowing that the gates of hell will not be victorious over
Christ’s church, are you willing to take great risks for his sake? Are you willing to go where he wants
you to go, do what he wants you to do? Victory is assured. May we all live our lives not in the pursuit of
our comfort but in the glory of his resurrection.
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