Govern

Read: Matthew 16:13-20

I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 16:19

IN WORD

Everyone thought the religious leaders had the keys of the Kingdom. They were the ones with authority, the ones who opened and shut doors, but mostly shut them. They were the ones who defined what was legal and what wasn’t, and their definitions were narrow. Their authority offered no life.

Jesus held the keys to the true Kingdom, and His followers must have been astonished when He shared them. Clearly Jesus had spiritual authority—His miracles and messages were evidence, and He confirmed Peter’s declaration a verse earlier. But a band of fishermen, a tax collector, and others at society’s margins? Who would entrust them with the authority of the messianic Kingdom of the living God?

Jesus did, and the people of God have carried the keys of the Kingdom ever since. The church has argued about whether the words were addressed to Peter or to all followers of Jesus, but they were echoed two chapters later for the body at large. We’re left with an unambiguous statement that some degree of divine authority has been given to human beings in relationship with Jesus—not to wield apart from Him but to exercise with Him. In other words, we are once again His appointed governors of this world, just as our first parents were first appointed to be. Whatever of our stewardship was lost in Eden has now been returned.

The difference between Eden and now is that our first parents did not govern a broken world full of evil. We do, and we have our hands full—so much so that we often assume helplessness and defer to God. But He calls us back into partnership with Him to make decisions that impact earth. We have a huge responsibility.

IN DEED

Whatever the keys of the Kingdom are, they imply a sacred stewardship and an invitation into more authority than we might be comfortable with. Step into it. Be a human agent of the divine will. And pray, speak, and act with awareness of His full backing.

ADDITIONAL READING: John 20:21-23

Power in complete subordination to love—that is something like a definition of the Kingdom of God.

WILLIAM TEMPLE