The Keys
August 23, 2026. HMC
Craig D. Atwood
Matthew 16:13-20
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.And I tell you that you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it.I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[d] loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
INTRODUCTION
I remember when I was third grade at Brunson Elementary. I thought that the custodian must be the most important person in the school because of all the keys on his key ring. His key ring was so big he had to latch it to his belt. He could open any door and any cabinet in the building. No one else could do that. Not even the principle. Many years later I learn that the word “custodian” comes from the Latin for guard because in ancient times the keeper of the keys was the guard of the household and its treasures. Being a custodian is a position of great responsibility that commanded respect in the past and should today.
MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
You probably have already figured out that I’m talking about keys because in our gospel lesson this morning Jesus says to Simon Peter that he is giving him the keys to the kingdom of heaven. This image of Peter having the keys to heaven is the reason why there are so many Dad jokes about someone trying to convince Peter to open the pearly gates and let them into heaven. I tried to think of a “good one” but couldn’t. Because of such jokes, we tend to visualize heaven as a gated community or a military base where you have to show your ID before you can drive in.
I remember visiting my brother at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri when I was twelve and being scared that the guard would arrest us since I didn’t have an ID. We will come back to this idea of heaven having a gatekeeper in a few minutes, but I’ll leave you with a teaser. That’s not what Jesus was talking about.
PETER’S CONFESSION IN MATTHEW
This story is probably familiar to you since it comes up every year in the lectionary. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell a similar story about Jesus asking the disciples what people are saying about him. They answer that the people think Jesus is an amazing person like the greatest of the prophets reborn. Jesus then asks what do the disciples think. Simon is the only one to speak up. He proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah.
Matthew then adds a couple of lines that aren’t in the other gospels. First, Jesus blesses Simon for his insight that Jesus is greater than the prophets, even Elijah and John the Baptist. Jesus gives Simon the son of Jonah a new name. He calls him Peter (Petros in Greek), which means rock – like Dwayne the Rock Johnson.
In the three other gospels, Jesus named Simon the Rock as soon as he met him. In John’s gospel we even get the Aramaic version of his name. Matthew adds drama to the naming. He waits until the critical moment when Simon declared that Jesus was the Messiah to name him the Rock. he is the Rock because he recognized who Jesus was.
And then Jesus says that he will build the church on this rock. It is pun, but it is not humorous. Simon is the rock because he saw who Jesus was when no one could, and so he will be the foundation for the church. An interesting side note is that Matthew is the only gospel to use the word church (ekklesia). I hope you’ll read Philip’s meditation on this text in your bulletin on the meaning of the foundation stone.
THE SEAT OF PETER IN ROME
This little passage in the New Testament has caused centuries of division in the church, most of it centered around the Bishop of Rome who is better known as the Pope. It was in the year 354 that the bishop of Rome first claimed that Peter was the first bishop in Rome and that all subsequent bishops of Rome were in direct succession from him and the same authority as Peter.
By the way, the word Pope is just a word for papa. The pope was seen as the daddy of all bishops in Western Europe. The bishops of Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Constantinople were also called popes or more formally patriarchs, but the pope in Rome claimed supreme authority because Rome was the city where both Peter and Paul were martyred. Peter, they claimed, was not just an apostle and first pope of Rome, he was the rock on which Jesus built the church. Over the centuries, the bishop of Rome claimed supreme authority over the Christian church. This included the authority to excommunicate people from the church and from heaven.
PROTESTANT INTERPRETATION
During the Reformation, Protestants rejected the idea that Jesus had made Peter and his successors in Rome the head of the Christian church. Protestant theologians denied that Jesus said he was going to build the church on Peter’s broad shoulders. They claimed that Jesus was saying he would build the church on the confession of faith that Peter had made. The rock that the church is built on, John Calvin and others insisted, is Peter’s proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. And for five centuries Protestants and Catholics have argued over this passage.
I strongly suspect that this is one of those times when two passionately held biblical interpretations may both be wrong. The text clearly states that Jesus will build the church on Peter as the rock, but Peter is not the one who will build the church. Christ builds the church. Christ is the cornerstone and head of the church. Peter is just the first stone in the foundation. And in our epistle lesson Paul reminds us that every member of the body is important. Every member should be treated with respect.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
And this brings us back to the keys. Jesus told Peter that he would give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and as we know, being the keyholder is a position of authority and responsibility. But I think this is another passage that is often misinterpreted. Let’s start with the phrase “kingdom of heaven.” All those jokes about St Peter at the pearly gates are based on the idea that he was given authority to decide who gets to go to heaven. But that is not what kingdom of heaven means.
In the other gospels Jesus told many parables about the Kingdom of God or God’s Realm, but as a pious Jew, Matthew avoided using the word God in his writing. Many pious Jewish writers avoided writing the name of God for fear of violating the Ten Commandments and taking the name of the Lord in vain. Every time that Matthew tells a parable of Jesus that is also in Mark or Luke, he changes Kingdom of God to kingdom of heaven, but the meaning remained the same. The kingdom of God in Jesus’ teachings is about God’s will for the earth not just the afterlife. And in our lesson for today, the keys to the kingdom of God are given to Peter.
THE KEYS
For over a thousand years, Catholic theologians interpreted Jesus’ statement about giving the keys of the kingdom of heaven to claim that popes as the successors of had divine authority to decide the eternal destiny of all people. The church decides whether a person is admitted to heaven or sent to perdition and there could be no salvation for people outside of the Catholic Church. Being excommunicated from the church meant that you lost all hope of heaven.
This is what happened to John Hus when his calls for reform began to offend the rich and powerful. The pope excommunicated him, but Hus proclaimed that salvation comes from Christ alone. He died excommunicated, but he died in faith that he would see Christ in heaven.
During the Reformation Protestant churches followed Hus’s example and rejected the authority of the Pope. But then they decided they had the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Protestants decided that only people who agree with their doctrine could go to heaven. The key to heaven’s gate is the Church’s creed. And century after century, the body of Christ on earth splintered into smaller and smaller pieces as churches excommunicated each other and claimed that they alone had the keys to heaven.
ABUSE OF AUTHORITY
I think that Protestants and Catholics alike have misinterpreted this passage. Remember the school custodian who was entrusted with the keys to every lock in the building? What if a school’s custodian abused their authority and refused to open the doors for the teachers and students one morning? There would be no teaching and learning. What if custodians decided one their own authority that only students with the same skin tone as theirs could enter the school? What if custodians decided that only men or only women could enter, and that custodians had the authority to decide who was manly enough or feminine enough to cross the threshold?
That is what churches have been doing with Peter’s keys for centuries. Catholics, Protestants, Evangelical, and almost all churches. Bishops, pastors, theologians, other custodians of the kingdom of heaven through the centuries thought they had the right to exclude people they didn’t like, disagree with, or simply didn’t understand. They quoted the Bible to justify their prejudices and preached sermons claiming that God hates some people. Many preachers still do this. They think God gave them the keys to use however they want.
BINDING AND LOOSING
What if the traditional reading of this text is wrong? What if Jesus was not giving Peter authority over heaven and hell but was instead warning Peter and the church about the responsibility they have. What if Jesus was telling the disciples and us today that we should not abusing the power of faith? What if Jesus was warning the church to be careful about binding people instead of setting them free from their shackles?
When I was a college chaplain I ministered to many young people who had been damaged by congregations and pastors that abused their spiritual authority. I ministered to good people who had been told they were heretics simple because they asked good and honest questions. I have often ministered to people who were told they were sinners because they were simply human. Too many arrogant people think they have a sacred duty to lock the gates to heaven to keep out people they felt were unworthy. They leave behind spiritually bruised and broken people who doubt the goodness of God. They have bound people instead of releasing them, but we can choose a better way. We have the keys to unlock the chains that bind people.
CONCLUSION
Maybe it’s time that we stop thinking of heaven as a gated community or an exclusive country club and remember that everyone is made in the image of God and Christ died to take away the sin of the world. Jesus is still building the church and the church’s mission is bring all people into the Kingdom of God.
In Prague in 1989, thousands of anti-Soviet protesters gathered night after night in Wenceslas Square loudly shaking keys to tell their leaders that it was time for them to open their country and let people travel freely. Perhaps it is time for us Christians to shake the keys of our kingdom and proclaim the good news that Christ has set us free. Perhaps it is time to open the gates and welcome our neighbors as brothers and sisters.
