The Amish Voice 8
And I will give unto thee
t
he keys of the
kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever
thou shalt bind on earth, shall be
bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven. —
Mat. 16:19
This scripture verse is one of the most mis-
understood but important verses in the Bi-
ble. Jesus was giving his disciples keys. The
keys of the kingdom of heaven lock or un-
lock the mysteries of this realm to us.
The Catholic Church understood this verse
to mean that Jesus was giving Peter une-
quivocal authority to make decisions and
rules. Later the protestant church decided
he was not giving this right to Peter but he
was giving it to the church. I would like to
propose to you that he was doing neither.
The context of this scripture verse is in the
context of Jesus asking his disciples in verse
13: “
Who do men say that I am?”
They then
proceed to tell him that some were saying
he was John the Baptst and others were
saying Elias and others Jeremias or one of
the prophets. Then he asks them, “
But who
do
you
say that I am?
” Simon Peter an-
swered with, “
Thou art the Christ, the Son of
the living God.”
Peter had just come into agreement with
heaven who Jesus really was. Jesus respond-
ed to this with, “
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-
jona: for fesh and blood hath not revealed it
unto thee, but my Father which is in heav-
en.”
Notce that the revelaton was from
heaven toward earth or to Peter.
He then proceeds to tell him that his name
was Peter
and that upon this rock he would
build his church, and the gates of hell would
not prevail against it. It is in this verse that
the Catholic Church gets the doctrine that
Jesus was ordaining Peter as the Vicar of
Christ. He is not saying this at all. He is say-
ing that upon a person receiving a personal
revelaton from the heavenly Father who
Jesus really is, he would build his church. He
was not just a prophet as others were saying
but indeed he was
the
Christ, the Messiah.
Even the gates of hell will never prevail
or
hold out
against it, (
this revelaton
)
.
He then starts the verse of our text with the
word
and
which connects this verse with the
afore mentoned scripture verses.
The keys of the kingdom of heaven are
about us coming into agreement with the
heavenly realm not heaven coming into
agreement with us. If heaven would have
to come into agreement with us, Jesus
would have had to come into agreement
with what Peter said a few verses later. Je-
sus was showing his disciples that he would
be killed and raised from the dead a few
days later; but Peter rebuked him and said,
“
Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be.”
Jesus had to rebuke Satan, who was using
Peter as a voice for himself.
Here is a beter interpretaton of this pas-
sage: “
I will give you the keys of the kingdom
of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth
must be what is already bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth must be
what is already loosed in heaven.
Also, if this verse was saying that whatever
we decide on earth, heaven would have to
agree with us; the Lord’s prayer would have
said, “
Thy kingdom come, our will be done in
heaven as on earth.”
1 John 5:14 would have
said, “
If we ask anything according to our
will he heareth us.”
We are like harps with our strings out of
tune. We must allow the Holy Spirit to bring
us in tune with the Word. When this is ac-
complished we will come into harmony with
God, bringing forth a sound that will reso-
nate in the earth and in the heavens, bring-
ing glory and honor to our king.
In John 5:19 Jesus says it this way:
Verily, verily I say unto you, The Son can
do nothing of himself, but what he seeth
the Father do: for what things soever he
doeth, these also doeth the Son like-
wise.”
And in John 12:49 he says, “
For I
have not spoken of myself; but the Fa-
ther which sent me, he gave me a com-
mandment, what I should say, and what
I should speak. —John 5:19
So even Jesus didn’t do or say anything that
he frst did not see or hear his heavenly Fa-
ther doing or saying.
In conclusion: our Father wants to have a
relatonship with his children. We must fnd
out through prayer and reading of the scrip-
tures what his will is and come into align-
ment
with it. Then the blessing of God will
be upon us and we will be a true representa-
tve of the kingdom of heaven.
Jonathan Helmuth — (607) 244-4168
4199 Old Rt. 14, Dundee, NY 14837
The Keys of the Kingdom
The Keys of the Kingdom
— Jonathan Helmuth
Jonathan Helmuth
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