The keys of the kingdom

Every one of us as adults has a number of keys that we carry around with us – keys to our house, our cars, our post office or safety deposit boxes etc. The reason we all carry keys is to give ourselves access to certain things and places that we do not want other people to have access to. Keys are a part of life for the simple reason that there are many people who would steal from or otherwise harm us if we did not have locks making it harder for them to do so. Ultimately keys indicate authority. The various keys we each carry around with us indicate the authority we have over certain pieces of property. Our house key indicates that, as owner of our home, we have authority over that house and its contents, just as our car key indicates we have authority over our car and its contents.

There are several powerful references to keys in the Bible. In Isaiah 22:15-22 God said that he would remove Shebna from his position as head of the king’s household, and put a man named Eliakim in his place. God then spoke about Shebna saying, “I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, when he opens no one will shut, when he shuts no one will open.” A similar passage in Revelation 3:7 speaks about Jesus, saying that Jesus “holds the key of David.” The verse then goes on to explain what it means to “hold the key of David” saying, “What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”

These passages reveals the obvious but very powerful fact that the one who has the keys to a place is the one who has the right to open and close the doors to that place. Doors are used for the purpose of either allowing or disallowing people to enter or exit a place. Therefore ultimately the one who controls the doors to a place has control over what comes in and out of that place. As King of Israel, David was given authority over all Israel – and ultimately this authority meant that he had the right to allow or disallow whatever he saw fit in his kingdom. In the same way God said he would give Eliakim authority over the king’s household, and Jesus has been given “All authority in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18)

Once we understand the spiritual significance of having keys, we can appreciate the power of the amazing statement Jesus made to Peter in Matthew 16:19, when he told him, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus then made it clear what these “keys” referred to, saying, “whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Just like in the verses we looked at above, the “keys of the kingdom” that Jesus referred to represented the right to allow or disallow certain things to happen. Jesus was essentially telling Peter that he had the authority to exercise the will of God, causing God’s Kingdom to come and his will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” (See “Understanding Authority”)

The Catholic Church has understood this passage as saying that this authority was given exclusively to Peter, and from this it has derived the idea of Papal authority. Certainly Peter’s act of “opening the door” to the Gentiles in the tenth chapter of Acts indicates that Peter used this authority. But in Matthew 18:18 Jesus made essentially the same statement to all of his disciples, indicating that it was his intention that all of them should have and exercise this same authority. Ultimately it is God’s will that all of his sons both have and use the “keys of the kingdom” - causing his kingdom to come and his will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” But just as with out own children, God will not give us these “keys” until we are mature enough to be trusted with them.