The Church and the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 16:13-20) Vicar Karen Peterson
Gracious God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing to you, Oh Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
If you look at today’s text in your NRSV Bible, you’ll see it has a pericope heading above it that says, “Peter’s Declaration about Jesus.” Such divisions and headings are not part of the Biblical text, nor are the chapters and verse numbers. These were all added by scholars and translators long ago, along with titles for the parables, in an effort to break scripture into smaller, bite-sized, easily digestible sections. The headings were meant to give the reader an idea of what each section or pericope is about. Sometimes these headings are helpful.
Today’s heading, “Peter’s Declaration about Jesus” might lead us to expect the reading today to be about Peter—and if we read it with that idea planted in our minds, then it’s likely that we will conclude from reading it, that it’s a story about Peter acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah. Now, I’m not saying that’s wrong. Jesus and Peter are the main characters, and they have all the dialogue, but that’s not all this story is about. The truth is, this passage isn’t really about Peter.
Sometimes these headings are misleading. Sometimes they cause us to miss a lot of important stuff that is happening in these stories. In fact, the declaration of Jesus as Messiah, Son of the Living God isn’t the only thing, or even the most important thing that happens in this passage. So, let’s back up and take a closer look at this story.
In verse 13, Jesus asks his disciples “Who do people say that I am?” They provide a list of possibilities—three dead prophets: John the Baptist (whom many thought might be Elijah), Elijah, Jeremiah, or another prophet. Although this sounds like the people have totally mistaken who Jesus is, in truth, Jesus is a prophet, and not just any prophet, but the Prophet like Moses promised in Deuteronomy 18:15-22. Their assessment is closer than it sounds because the people identify Jesus as a great prophet, raised from the dead—in other words, a resurrected prophet. The people are already thinking of Jesus in resurrection terms, while the disciples aren’t even ready to face the idea that Jesus will die as a prophet.
Next, Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” The you here is plural, as in “you all,” indicating Jesus is still addressing the whole group. Simon Peter answers on behalf of them all. In the gospels, especially in the Gospel of Matthew, Peter is every disciple, in the same sense that Jimmy Stewart was everyman. That is to say, Peter represents your average, ordinary follower of Jesus: faithful, sometimes fickle, flawed and fallible, and frequently found with his foot in his mouth. In this instance, Peter is acting as spokesperson for the whole group of disciples, and says, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” v. 16.
But this isn’t the first time the disciple’s recognized Jesus as the Son of God. The first time was in chapter 14, after Peter tried to walk on the water, and started to sink. When Jesus got into the boat, and the storm ceased, and all the disciples worshipped him saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 16:16). Then, Jesus blesses Simon Peter. But all the disciples had already been similarly blessed (Matthew 13: 16-17) for having the ability to recognize Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. In both blessings, Jesus is acknowledging that such a revelation of his identity can only come as a gift from the Holy Spirit.
But then, Jesus makes a proclamation specifically regarding Simon Peter. Jesus replies, “Simon, you are a rock, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (v. 17). Yes, I admit that it still sounds like it’s about Simon Peter. But really, this story is about the church—the new church that Jesus will build. Simon Peter and his proclamation of the good news of Jesus, the Messiah, will be the church’s foundation.
A little background is helpful here. Peter of course, means Rock or stone. The “foundation stone” is important, because in Jewish tradition, the Jerusalem Temple was built on a rock thought to be the center of the world.[1] But Jesus isn’t building a temple of bricks or stones. Jesus is constructing a temple made of living stones—the true people of God who believe in Jesus, the Messiah. This includes you and me. The Greek word translated as church in Matthew actually means an assembly—“a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place”.[2] This is equivalent to the Hebrew word for “the assembly of the Israelites, especially when gathered for sacred purposes,” as for worship.[3] The church of Christ is constructed of people, united in prayer and cemented together by the Holy Spirit. The church, ideally, is meant to be the “Kingdom” where God’s reign is actualized on earth.
When Jesus says the gates of Hades will not prevail against his church, Jesus isn’t talking about the Greek God or the under-world, or the devil, or a place of eternal punishment, as hell is often described. Hades is the Greek equivalent to the Jewish word Sheol, which is simply the realm of the dead. Jesus is saying that nothing, not even death, can destroy the Christian church. It cannot be vanquished by sin, death or the forces of evil. The church will endure for eternity.
Jesus goes on to promise Simon Peter the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, and the power to bind and loose on earth and in Heaven. Now, I don’t know about you, but to be perfectly honest, this verse is one I struggled with for many years. It sounds like, and has at times been understood to mean that Jesus gave Peter the authority to decide who is and is not to be admitted into Heaven. The idea of Simon, who often seems to have rocks for brains, and a tendency to act without much deliberation, deciding who is admitted into eternal joy in heaven is concerning. But after taking a class on the Gospel of Matthew and reading some current commentary, I am happy to tell you that’s not at all how scholars and theologians interpret this verse.
The keys are not actual keys to lock or unlock the pearly gates. The keys represent the authority to teach in Jesus’ name. Binding and loosing is rabbinic terminology for the authority to interpret the Torah and apply it to particular cases, declaring what is permitted and what is not permitted.[4] It has nothing to do with forgiving or retaining sins. Peter is being given the authority to interpret the law and the Gospel and to make authoritative decisions for Christian life—the authority to apply the teachings of Jesus to concrete life situations. Peter is to become the chief teacher of the new church. Clearly what is permissible (loosed) in heaven according to Jesus’ teachings is permissible here on earth, and vice versa.
But this responsibility isn’t limited to Peter. In chapter 18, Jesus extends this to the whole church. We all have the responsibility of discerning, every day, what it means, in concrete terms, to act as Christians in every situation we experience. We read and study the Bible, and we come to church, to learn how to do this better and more faithfully, day by day, year by year. And like Peter, we sometimes miss the mark. Fortunately, there is grace for that through Jesus. But on those occasions when we get it right, when we act like true disciples following the footsteps of Christ, then the eschatological Kingdom of Heaven, (Matthew’s term for the Kingdom of God), breaks into the here and now. That is when we are truly the church of living stones that Jesus built. That is when we shine like lights in the darkness—when we live out our faith in concrete acts of love and justice, mercy, and grace. We have all been called by God to live sacred lives in public spaces as living stones in a worldwide church, for the sake of the Gospel, and for the sake of the neighbor. At those moments, in those places, when and where we live out Christ’s Gospel by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, tending the sick, embracing the outcast and the marginalized, working toward equality, equity and peace for all people, striving for peace and reconciliation with our neighbors—then and there we are the inbreaking Kingdom, to which others can point and say, “There is God! There is the Holy Spirit at work in the world! Look what God is doing through those people, that church, right there!” May we, the people of Faith, strive together to live as the Kingdom church, using our gifts and resources to do God’s work according to God’s will, wherever we may find ourselves, each and every day. Amen.
[1] M. Eugene Boring. The New Interpreter’s Bible. 8: The Gospel of Matthew. Nachdr. Vol. 8. 10 vols. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007. Matthew 16:18.
[2] Joseph Thayer. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996. Strongs 1577 ekklesia.
[3] Joseph Thayer. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996. Strongs 1577 ekklesia.
[4] M. Eugene Boring. The New Interpreter’s Bible. 8: The Gospel of Matthew. Nachdr. Vol. 8. 10 vols. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007. Matthew 16:19.