After Jesus had questioned the disciples as to His identity, He gave an astounding affirmation to Peter’s answer and an astounding statement regarding the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.
“Jesus replied, ‘You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” (Matt.16:17-19 NLT)
The church had not yet been formed, so Peter could be taken as a token of the church, then future. Since Peter received the information from the Father, the keys must be figurative of the Gospel of Jesus. Peter was given the keys to preach the Good News to the Jews, and later to the Gentiles. Jesus, by His authority, commissioned all of His followers to preach the Gospel to the world.
Peter makes a comment about this in 1 Peter 2:9 NLT: “…you are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God...”
This truth gives me greater boldness in sharing the Gospel of Jesus by looking for and anticipating opportunities.
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