16:13–20 In verse 13, Jesus takes the disciples aside, as he has done before. They go to Caesarea Philippi, about 25 miles (40 km) north of Capernaum and barely inside Israel’s borders. The population and ethos here was largely Gentile—“Caesarea” manifested the city’s dedication to Caesar, and the worship of Pan was common in the region. Thus the disciples confess Christ where pagans praise Caesar and Pan.
Jesus asks, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (16:13). He asks a question because he is treating the disciples as witnesses, not as reporters. Christians hear “Son of Man” as a title, but at the time the term had no sharp definition or expectations attached to it. For that reason, Jesus could pour his definition into it.
The disciples say the crowds consider him a prophet (16:14; cf. Luke 7:16). They ignore critics who judge Jesus an insane man (Mark 3:21), a deceiving demagogue (John 11:47–48), or a minion of Satan (Matt. 12:24). Jesus presses the disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” (16:15). The Greek doubles the use of “you,” locating it first, to create great emphasis. Jesus asks in effect, “What about you? What do you say?”
Peter replies, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16:16). Peter recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, God’s anointed. In the NT, “Christ” is more than Jesus’ second name; it is a title that means Messiah, or “anointed one.” This holds for Matthew (cf. 1:1; 1:17; 11:2; 22:42) and for Paul. In the OT, anointing prepared priests, kings, and others for strategic roles, and so they could be designated “anointed” (Ex. 29:29; Lev. 6:22; 1 Sam. 16:13). But for many people, Jesus as “Messiah” meant he was a second Son of David, a ruler who would bring God’s reign. Jews believed a messiah would one day restore Israel, although there were many views of what that might mean.
Critics claim Matthew added the phrase “the Son of the living God,” since neither Mark nor Luke includes it in the parallel passages. But the other Gospels call Jesus the Son of God in other settings, so there is no need to propose a fabrication (Mark 3:11; 5:7; 15:39; Luke 1:35).
Peter speaks better than he knows. Given Peter’s reaction—he dares to correct Jesus when he foretells his death (Matt. 16:21–22)—he does not appreciate Jesus’ deity. Later, Peter will realize that Jesus is fully divine, the Father’s unique Son and equal.
Jesus blesses Peter’s confession, “for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (16:17). God’s revelation gives Peter “holy joy.” Jesus continues, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (16:18). Jesus will build his church on Peter’s confession.
“The gates of hell shall not prevail” has been taken several ways. Some call it proof that the church will never be defeated. Matthew does assume the church will endure (28:18–20), but “gates” here has a different sense. The term has a metaphorical use at times (Job 38:17; Isa. 38:10), but normally a gate is the entry to a city, temple, or prison (Luke 7:12; Acts 3:10; 12:10). Gates are defensive structures (Gen. 22:17; Deut. 3:5). Thus Jesus is saying that hell’s defenses will not thwart the church’s progress. The church will advance and prevail through the confession that Jesus is Messiah and Son of God. Jesus is the church’s founder and builder, yet Peter has a role. The name “Peter” (Gk. petros; Matt. 16:18; cf. 10:2; John 1:42) means “rock” or “rocky.” Either Peter or his recent confession is foundational for the church.
When Jesus says “on this rock I will build,” he uses a slightly different word: “You are petros, and on this petra I will build . . .” This creates space between Peter and the church’s rock. Jesus does not say “On you I will build my church” but “on this rock.” “This rock” is distinct from Peter, although connected to him. We soon discover the difference between the man and the rock. After Jesus grants Peter the keys to the kingdom (see below), Jesus explains how he must die in Jerusalem (Matt. 16:21). Peter rebukes Jesus, whom he has just called the Son of God, saying, “This shall never happen to you” (v. 22). In response Jesus chastises Peter: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me” (v. 23). “Hindrance” translates skandalon, a cause of offense, a temptation, a trap.
Notice the change. At first, Peter is the church’s rock. Now he is tempter, a foe. So Peter’s status depends on what he says. When Peter forbids the cross, he is a stumbling stone. When he proclaims Jesus as the Christ, he is a rock. Thus Peter is not the foundation of the church. Jesus in Matthew 21:42 will point to himself as the cornerstone, citing Isaiah 28:16 and Psalm 118:22. In 1 Corinthians 3:11, Paul identifies Jesus as the church’s sole foundation. Later, Paul writes that God built his “household . . . on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Eph. 2:19–20). Finally, Revelation 21:14 pictures the new Jerusalem with “twelve foundations” not one, and they are the “twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
After Peter’s confession, Jesus promises, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 16:19). This is future tense; Peter immediately shows that he is not yet ready for the keys Jesus promises (vv. 21–23). Christ continues, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (v. 19). Some believe this means the disciples will have the authority to forbid (bind) or permit (loose) certain acts. This view fits the Jewish context, in which rabbis laid down rules of conduct. The school of Shammai was known for strictness, for binding; the school of Hillel for permissiveness, for loosing. The Greek pronouns translated “whatever” are neuter, so they could refer to ethical rulings. But this position has three points against it. First, the topic of ethics is absent from the context. Second, neuter pronouns can refer to people in Greek. Third, the parallel passage in 18:15–18 refers to people. There Jesus instructs the church to excommunicate those who claim to be disciples but persist in sin, adding, “Whatever you bind on earth . . . whatever you loose . . .” The apostles must exclude the impenitent but admit the repentant. In chapter 23, Jesus cries “woe” to scribes and Pharisees who “shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces” (23:13), for the Pharisees have laws but no gospel. These passages, along with Luke 11:52, show that binding and loosing refers to people, not laws.
Keys open and close doors. To bind or loose is to prevent or permit entry. The keys to the kingdom open or close its door. Peter does so in Acts 2–10 when he proclaims repentance and faith in Jesus. Thousands repent, believe, and enter the kingdom (Acts 2:14–42; 10:34–48). But refusal of Peter’s message bars one from the kingdom (Acts 4:5–31; 8:18–23).
This leads to the translation of Matthew 16:19b. It literally reads, “Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Few translations render it this way, perhaps because it is awkward English (the Greek is awkward too). The ESV, like most versions, reads, “will be bound . . . will be loosed.” The Greek estai dedemenon . . . estai lelymenon are future periphrastic perfects: the future of “to be” conjoined with perfect passive participles for “bind” and “loose.” These phrases lead to two debates. First, what is the correct interpretation of these future periphrastic perfects? Second, what is the extent of the apostolic authority?
If “whatever you bind . . . will be bound” is the correct understanding, then Jesus could be saying that every apostolic action lines up perfectly with God’s actions. At the extreme, this would mean that Jesus so delegates his authority to Peter and perhaps his successors that God confirms whatever they do. If Peter binds (condemns) or looses (forgives), God follows. Or Jesus could mean that Peter (and perhaps others) are so perfectly aligned with God’s will that whatever he binds, God also binds. The first proposal has God following the will of humans. The second ignores the errors of the apostles and later leaders.
If, on the other hand, the perfect retains its traditional force, the text is clear. The perfect signifies that a past action causes continuing effects or states of affairs. Greek grammarians say that the perfect describes a state of affairs without necessarily referring to time, “apart from what is discerned from the context.” Here the context does have clues about time. Jesus has said he will build his church and will give the keys to Peter, so we can give the future passive perfect its full weight. When Peter speaks as an apostle and proclaims that Jesus is Messiah and Son of God, he uses the keys as he speaks. Peter does not determine who enters heaven and who does not. Rather, when Peter proclaims the gospel, he restates and announces what God has already decided: if anyone repents and trusts Jesus, his sins are forgiven, the door is open, and the penitent enters God’s kingdom. If anyone rejects Jesus, the door is closed.
Surveying Matthew, we see that Jesus has this in view for all of the apostles. He has called them to be fishers of men (4:19) and has instructed them to preach the good news of the kingdom to Jew and Gentile (10:5–23). After the resurrection, he will charge the apostles to disciple the nations (28:18–20). Jesus bestows the keys of the kingdom twice, in 16:19 and 18:18, in very similar language. In 16:19, when Jesus says, “I will give you the keys,” the pronoun “you” is singular. In 16:18–19 Jesus tell Peter, who has just declared Jesus’ identity, that he has the keys. But in 18:15–18 Jesus tells all of the apostles that they have the power to bind and to loose, since they all watch over the church and discipline sinners.
Until his return, Jesus has entrusted the keys of the kingdom to the apostles and to successive generations of church leaders (2 Tim. 2:2). As they preach the gospel and make disciples, they open the door to believers and close it to unbelievers. In Matthew 16, the disciples are still immature, so Jesus charges the disciples “to tell no one that he was the Christ” (v. 20). Later, Jesus will lift the ban.