ST. PETER & ST. PAUL

I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.

Mt 16:13-19

COMMENTARY

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

John was a prophet just like Elijah and Jeremiah. People considered Jesus as one of them. And they were wrong.

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Christ is the Greek form of “Anointed”. Messiah is the Hebrew form. Peter got it right. He was able to discover who Jesus really was because the Father gave him the faith (or the “eyes”) to perceive the truth about Jesus.

In the OT the title son of God was given to angels, to faithful Israelites, to Israel itself and to the Messiah. It implied a special election from God and a special mission for the chosen one. When Christians called Jesus “Son of God”, they are declaring the Jesus is Son without equal and has a mission of saving mankind without equal.

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.

Now it is the turn of Jesus to tell Simon, son of Jonah, about his new responsibility. He would be the rock upon which Jesus would build his church. That is why he is to be called “Peter” or Cephas”.

The image of the rock is significant. Jesus said that a man who puts into prac-tice his teachings is a like a man who built his house on rock. When the flood came and the wind blew, the house remained standing. So also the Church will remain firm against the attacks of the powers of hell. Of course, it is not because of Peter but because of the strength given by Jesus Christ to Peter and the Church.

This passage is a recognition of the pre-eminent position of Peter in the primi-tive Church which according to Catholic tradition passed on to his successors, the Popes.

And the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

Netherworld is Hades or in Hebrew, Sheol, the dwelling place of the dead. Jesus declares that Sheol cannot keep in death the members of his community.

I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

To be able to carry out his responsibility over the Church, Jesus gives author-ity over the Church to Peter. This is signified by the symbol of the keys. This is why the Vatican flag has the image of the keys. The statue of St. Peter often has Peter holding a set of keys.

The power of the keys means: (1) the power to permit or to prohibit, (2) the power to admit or exclude from the community of faith and kingdom of God, (3) the forgiveness of sins.