Christ’s bestowal of the keys on St. Peter is reminiscent of the bestowal of
authority upon the Chamberlain, or Vizier, in the Royal House of Israel in
Isaiah chapter 22:
“And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall
open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (v. 22).
Undoubtedly, Isaiah 22 lies behind St. Matthew 16. The Chamberlain in
Isaiah 22 is given responsibility over the “inhabitants of Jerusalem and to
the house of Judah,” while St. Peter is given authority to govern the New
Israel, or Christ’s Church. The symbol of the keys in both instances
represents the authority of administrator and teacher, while the language
of binding and loosing is a rabbinic expression for authoritative teaching
and the declaring of what is permitted and what is not. The noted Lutheran
Biblical scholar Oscar Cullman likewise sees the parallels:
“In Matthew 16:19 it is presupposed that Christ is the master of the
house, who has the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, with which to
open to those who come in. Just as in Isaiah 22:22 the Lord lays the
keys of the house of David on the shoulders of his servant Eliakim,
so Jesus commits to Peter the keys of his house, the Kingdom of
Heaven, and thereby installs him as administrator of the house.”³
3
Peter: Disciple, Apostle, Martyr, trans. Floyd V. Filson, (Philadelphia:
Westminster, 1953), p. 203.
 |
 |
 |