Chapter 8: I GIVE UNTO THEE THE KEYS
Chapter 8: I GIVE UNTO THEE THE KEYS
Matt. xvi. 13-20
"A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich;
A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong;
Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense
Of service which thou renderest."
— B. B. Browning.
FOR TWO YEARS and a half our Lord had lived amongst His Apostles. Making Himself of no reputation, He had given them no certain clue to His dignity. The Prince had never thrown aside his incognito. It was not for Him to blazon forth his attributes, but to live a life, the like of which had never before been seen by human eyes. To quote the words of His evangelist and friend, who more than any other penetrated beneath the Lord*s grace and truth to their hidden fountain — "The life was manifested, and we have seen it."
Only six months of education remained before He was taken from them — a period during which His teaching must become much more intensive; and as a preliminary it was necessary to ascertain what conclusions they had arrived at, as the result of their observations and experiences. If, notwithstanding His reticence, they had discovered His intrinsic glory, "the glory of the Only-Begotten of the Father," it would serve as the common platform from which to ascend to higher revelations. But if, on the contrary, the god of this world had succeeded in blinding their eyes to His glory as the image of God, it would be clear that they could not serve the high purpose of His calling, and that He must go elsewhere for the heralds of His Gospel and the foundation stones of His Church.
In order to secure the necessary privacy for this all-important inquiry, our Lord journeyed to the extreme edge of the northern frontier of Palestine, where Mount Hermon, the chief Alp of the Lebanon range, lifts its mighty mass beyond the snow-line, screening off the northern blasts, and cooling the air, so that the dews of Hermon descended on the mountains of Zion. The Jordan issues from one of the cliffs near the ancient town of Banias, known at that time as Caesarea Philippi — a conjunction of the names of the Emperor and the local ruling kinglet. There the little band found lodgings, and we can imagine the blessed intercourse which ensued on the verdant slopes of the foot-hills, or in the glens and glades of the ancient cedar-forests.
These were the worthy setting of the memorable conversation, which more than any of our Lord*s discourses has affected the life of Christendom.
I. THE MASTER'S SEARCHING QUESTION. — "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" The answers were various. It was universally acknowledged that He was no ordinary man. People felt that a Divine fire was burning beneath the pure porcelain of His nature. But their views were as various as the speakers.
Some, with Herod at their head, expressed the belief — not without a shudder — that the Baptist had risen from his lonely grave beside the Castle of Machaerus. Others said that Elijah, whom Malachi had taught them to expect, had come to them in the "day of the Lord." Others traced a resemblance between Jesus and one of the old prophets. Probably our Lord was not specially disappointed or surprised by these replies. It was of small importance what conclusions had been arrived at in the Court of Public Opinion. He knew what was in man; and these inquiries were only intended to lead up to the second and all-important question: "But whom say ye that I am?"
Speaking after the manner of men, his heart must have stood still for the reply. And it came instantly, emphatically, and decisively from the lips of Peter, always the spokesman for the rest: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." This was a great advance on the earlier confession of John vi, as it appears in the Revised Version. In a most significant manner it combined the hope of the Jew for the Anointed One, with the recognition of the unique and essential nature of our Lord, as the Only-begotten of the Eternal God. It filled the heart of Jesus with ecstasy. The bluff fisherman had been taught the secret of the mystery which in other ages had not been made known unto the sons of men, as it was now to be revealed to the holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit. "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona (son of Jonas or John), for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven."
These words sometimes make us wistful. Oh for these flashes of spiritual intuition! Oh for this insight into the Divine mysteries! Oh to know even as we are known! Hush, soul! "The secret of the Lord is still with them that fear Him." The Spirit of the Father still speaks in human hearts in gentle whispers, as once in Horeb's cave. "It is written in the Prophets, And they shall be all taught of God." Every man therefore that Cometh unto Christ hath heard and hath learned of the Father. Even we may receive, not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we may know "the deep things of God."
II. THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. — Then for the first time our Lord spoke of His Church. Notice the strong possessive pronoun My. As yet the Church — one, undivided, and hidden — existed only in the councils of eternity. The future tense, "I will build," makes it clear that as Eve was builded out of Adam whilst he slept, so the Church was presently to be built from the death-wound, and the sepulchre entombment of Emmanuel. And it was destined to be His bride, His body, His fulfilment, through which He could manifest the complete glory of His nature. My Church! From eternity Christ loved her. By His blood He redeemed her. Through His Spirit and by His Word He is cleansing her; and one day He will present her to Himself a glorious Church, "having neither spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing." As the good steward, Eliezer, brought Isaac's bride from a far country, so the Holy Spirit is completing the Church in these last days, and preparing her to be for ever with the Lord.
The Church is the special object of hatred to the dark underworld of fallen spirits, whom our Lord refers to as "the gates of Hades." Hades is the nether unseen world, the abode of the wicked spirits that rule the darkness of this world, under the leadership of "the Prince of the power of the air," who rules in the hearts of the disobedient. The gate, in Oriental thought and speech, was the place for council, judgment, the connivance of stratagems and the mustering of hostile forces. Our Lord clearly anticipated the long and weary conflict that would be inaugurated against His Church. "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Yes, and the Church can only overcome "by the blood of the Lamb," and by "the word of her testimony." Her children love not their lives unto the death!
Long and sore the conflict may be, but the issue is not doubtful. "They shall not prevail," "The Lamb shall overcome, for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful." There shall break ere long on the ear of a startled world the voice of a great multitude, which in the distance shall sound like the voice of waves breaking on the shore in a summer night, but nearer their words of victory shall be distinctly audible, as they announce — first, that the Church has emerged victorious; and, second, that the Marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready. The secret of the Church's prevalence over her foes consists in her foundation doctrine. Shall we not rather say, her foundation fact? Not the personality of an impulsive and fallible man, who within a few moments was to incur the sharpest rebuke ever administered by those gentle lips; but the Deity of our Lord, as "the Son of the ever-living God." The Greek phrasing of our Lord's reply leaves no doubt as to His meaning.
Two Greek words are here. Petros, Simon's new name, signifying in Greek, as Cephas did in Syriac, a stone, or bit of rock, broken or hewn from its parent bed; and Petra, the Rock-bed itself. Our Lord carefully makes the distinction. If He had intended Peter to be the foundation of the Church, He would naturally have shaped His sentence thus: "Thou art Peter, and on thee I will build My Church." But carefully selecting His words. He said: "Thou art Peter, a stone, a fragment of rock, who under the power of God's Spirit hast spoken with strength and certainty; but I cannot build on thee, for the foundation of My Church I must turn from Petros to Petra, from a fragment to the great truth, which for the moment has inspired thee. The truth of My eternal relationship to the Father is the only foundation, against which the waves of demon and human hatred will break in vain. No stone shall give. No bastion shall even rock."
III. THE GIFT OF THE KEYS. — It must be carefully noted that our Lord used the same words which He addressed to Peter also to individual believers in Matt.18:18, and again to His assembled Apostles and others who were gathered with them in the Upper Room on the evening of the Resurrection Day. See Luke xxiv. 33, and John xx. 22 and 23.
In the light afforded by these references we may extend the significance of this gift of the keys to include all who live and act in the power of the Holy Spirit. If we have received that blessed gift of the Comforter, as they did on whom the Master breathed that Easter evening, we also may wield the power of the keys. Not ours the prerogative of the Apostles, but only the humble distinction of having walked to Emmaus, first with broken and then with burning hearts; yet even such may, in the power of the Spirit, be entrusted with keys that shall open closed doors, and emancipate prisoners from their cells.
Here, for instance, is a broken-hearted penitent who thinks that her sin is too great to be forgiven, and some Christian sister takes as her key our Lord's words to such in Luke vii. or John viii., and instantly a door is opened by which she passes into the Peace of God.
Again, there may be a man who thinks that he is guilty of the unpardonable sin, and a scribe, who is well instructed in the mysteries of the Kingdom, takes as his key the words spoken by our Lord under similar circumstances: "All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men "; and making a distinction between sins and the condition of absolute deadness and insensibility into which men may drift, when they have killed their conscience, so that it no more remonstrates or pleads, he opens the door into the liberty of the sons of God.
Again, there may be the case of a morbid and unhealthy conscience, which is bound by scruples and
tormented by questions, and you may take as your key Col. ii., or Gal. iii. and iv., and instantly the wards of the prison lock yield, the door opens, and the captive, like Peter touched by the Angel, passes through the gate that leads out into the City of the Firstborn.
This is the secret of the quest of the blessed life. Go through the world opening prison-doors, lifting heavy burdens, giving light, and joy, and peace to the oppressed, proclaiming the Lord's Jubilee year.
Shut doors opening out on the dark waters of despair. Unlock and open those that face towards the sunrise. For this is work that angels might envy. "Receive ye the Holy Ghost."
The Knights of Arthur's Table rode forth into the wild wastes of the Kingdom of the Beast, intent on righting wrong, and succouring the oppressed. Never a day without its gallant deed. We, too, are dedicated to similar enterprise. Let us not hold back lest we miss the vision of the Holy Grail! We, too, possess the Sword of the Spirit and the Keys of the Kingdom! We, too, may catch a glimpse of the holy cup of sacrifice!