The Trajectory of Jesus--August 27, 2026
[Jesus continued his reply to Peter:] "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19)
Okay... so what exactly is going on here?
Let's just start by admitting that Jesus' statement to Simon Peter here, continuing the passage that many of us heard this past Sunday, is unclear at first blush. What precisely is Jesus giving, and to whom, specifically? These words, after all, have been taken to mean very different things by different groups within Christian history, all convinced they've got The Right Answer.
For example, is Jesus speaking only to Simon Peter the historical figure from the first-century? And in that regard, is Peter given a special authority that the rest of Jesus' disciples don't have and never receive? Is it, as later Roman Catholic doctrine has taken it, that Peter and his successors (since Peter is named as the first Bishop of Rome, and thereby all later Bishops of Rome, also known as popes) have this supreme power to "bind" and "loose"? Is Jesus really talking to all the community of his church, which at this moment in the story is still technically comprised solely of Simon Peter, if our definition of "the church" is "the people who confess Jesus as the Messiah"? That's possible, too.
And what are these "keys" Jesus talks about? Is this literal hardware for a door? Is Jesus offering Peter control over who gets in and who is kept out of heaven? Is this more of the imagery we heard yesterday about setting people free from captivity and releasing people from being held within the gates of death and Hades? Or, as some have suggested, is this "binding" and "loosing" language the central idea--and is this about Jesus' ongoing community being given Jesus' own authority to interpret his teachings and commandments, which in first-century rabbinic speech was often described as "binding" or "loosing" particular commandments as applicable or not applicable to different situations?
There are so many possibilities, but it's not clear at first blush what is going on here. It's like we are all pretty sure that something important is being said, but we're just not very clear on what that actually is. We cannot just ignore the verse and pretend it's not there (because it really does seem like Jesus is saying something of substance here; it's not an extraneous detail). But on the other hand, neither are we free to just assume that this verse means anything we like, either. So what are we to do, and what are we to make of Jesus' words here? Well, here's how I would suggest navigating these waters...
First off, the wider context of the gospel seems to suggest that Simon Peter is not being singled out for always getting it right or having the correct answers. Peter is often the first to speak up, but he puts his foot in his mouth at least as often as he stays something profound (see, for example, blurting out his wish to walk on water, incorrectly bragging that he will never abandon Jesus, and then actively denying Jesus three times on the night of his betrayal). For that matter, in just a few more sentences (in the Gospel passage many of us will hear this coming Sunday), when Jesus insists that being the Messiah will mean he goes to the cross and dies, this same Simon Peter who is given these "keys of the kingdom" will rebuke Jesus for such a notion. And in response, Jesus will famously say to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan!" and chastise him for putting his mind on "human things" rather than "divine things." That's quite a turnaround in the space of thirty seconds' worth of conversation. So I don't think we can take this verse as the basis for saying that Peter, or his successors, or anybody else for that matter, is infallible in their faith or choices. As much as later medieval church teaching tried to claim that this was the basis for saying that Peter, and thereby popes or papal pronouncements, were infallible in declaring truth or getting people in or out of heaven, I don't think we can make that claim. Peter himself reveals all too quickly that sometimes he is completely wrong and in urgent need of Jesus' correction and reorientation.
Okay, but then what is going on here? Sure, we could point out that in the parallel versions of this story in Mark 8 and Luke 9, Jesus doesn't mention any of this "keys of the kingdom" business, but it's still here in Matthew. So we can't ignore this verse because it's an outlier or we just don't know what to do with it.
I do thing there is something going on here that has to do with the continuing community of Jesus' followers--those who recognize him as God's Son and long-promised Messiah/Christ--and our responsibility to speak with Jesus' authority in the world. I don't thing that is the same as saying we have the power (whether pastors, bishops, council presidents, or congregational votes) to vote people in or out of heaven. I don't think that we are empowered to go inventing new commandments ("No white shoes after Labor Day!" "Thou shalt wait an hour after eating before swimming!" or whatever else we might imagine), and I don't think we are authorized to add other idols to be worshiped, whether ancient ones like Zeus and Poseidon, modern ones like the flag or the dollar, or even seemingly religious ones like saints, bishops, Bibles, or statues. But I do think Jesus is charging us, his continuing community of disciples, to keep speaking his word of liberating good news, declaring the forgiveness he has already given to us and empowered us to speak to others, and to continue teaching in new situations what it looks like to live the Jesus way of life in new settings, times, and places. The content of the Gospel and the Jesus-Way remain the same, but we will continue to find new ways to speak it and new situations in which to live it. Here Jesus gives us the clear direction and authority to keep doing that, day by day and century by century.
For Peter, for example, part of what that looked like was being an authoritative voice in the early church to include Gentiles as Gentiles (see the story of Cornelius in Acts 10 and following). He wasn't inventing a new religion or claiming to be infallible, but he was trying to speak the content of Jesus' teaching and message to a new situation and new question (namely, "Are we letting in THOSE people to become followers of Jesus, and on what terms?"). Similarly, the church would wrestle with other questions over time, like whether it was permissible to serve in Caesar's army and burn incense in Caesar's honor (the consensus was "No" on that), or whether it was right to speak of Jesus as fully divine and fully human (the council of Nicea decided "Yes," and we still profess the words they arrived at in the Nicene Creed on many Sundays). The church has continued to take on new questions and situations, from speaking against slavery to advocating for peace and justice to new questions that arise in our own day, like how we respond to wars, or artificial intelligence, or social media. The world keeps presenting us with new situations about which we need to speak and into which we need to live--and Jesus is empowering us to continue to speak, witness, live and love in his way.
We are called to continue the trajectory of Jesus in the world. We will sometimes get it wrong (Peter sure did sometimes), but we will also sometimes get it right (the Spirit is still with us). And we are not permitted to just give up on that work simply because it is hard.
I'm not 100% sure that I've got this all figured out, not even just in this one Bible verse. But if I'm even anywhere in the right ballpark, our calling for today is clear enough, with enough light for the next step in front of us. We are empowered by Jesus to continue speaking his good news and embodying his way in the world, no matter what new situations, people, or issues we encounter.
Let's go.
Lord Jesus, guide us along the way today, and give us your words and vision for facing it all.
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