What did Christ mean?

Question

When he told His church leaders generally (and Peter specifically) that anything they bound on earth would be bound in heaven, that they had the power to forgive men's sins and any they forgave would be forgiven and any they retained would be retained? And finally what did He mean when he gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven?

In Matthew 16:17 at Caesarea Philippi "Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood 12 has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
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And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, 13 and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
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I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. 14 Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

John 20:21 (Jesus) said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
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And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit.
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Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

Answer 1

The Christ gave the power to continue His messages to his apostles. They were given the authority to build His church and spread the Good News throughout the world. The authority bestowed upon Peter continues to this day through the Church.

Answer 2

I believe Christ was referring to the following:
- "Anything they bound on earth would be bound in Heaven" -- Meaning that if you love someone with all your heart and soul, you're bound to them emotionally and if both of you will endure the hardships and the happy days, and still love each other... you'll be together even in Heaven. In other words, you're bound to be together for always and forever through marriage and being happy together. When someone says you belong to me in a loving and caring manner, meaning that they'll be spending their lives together, it might mean the same as being "bound" together.
- "They had the power to forgive Men's sins and any they forgave would be forgiven and any they retained would be retained" -- Comitting a crime against someone else is a horrible offense, and forgive is more than challenging to do towards the attacker. If you're saying to your attacker "I forgive you for your actions, but I'm not going to forget" and if you mean what you say, it might mean that no matter how horrible the sin is he might be forgiven in Heaven too, but he'll have a different punishment done to him. I believe comparing to the degree of the comitted crime (i.e.: rape / murder) the guilty will be judged accordingly as well as for the pain and suffering endured by the victim. Having the forgiveness of the victim is like having couple of years off of the life-sentence that the attacker might otherwise spend in jail... Same goes for not ever being forgiven by the victim, the attacker may never be forgiven in Heaven and will endure a harsher punishment as well.
- When He gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, I believe He wanted him to continue doing the good that he was doing so well. He was thought of doing everything right as well as being able to teach other people of right and wrong and making sure that no other problems / suffering will happen ever again, so that way people will be able to figure out how live in peace and harmony.

Did make any sense at all? :)

I hope it helped. Best of luck and take care :)

Answer 3

It meant that they had the power to lay hands on the sick and heal them, they had the power to exorcise demons, make the blind see and the lame to walk. They also had the ability to hear confessions and tell people that they way to get to heaven was to accept Christ as their saviour and to follow in his footsteps.They also had the power to retain, that meant that they could pray for things to come and believe in all confidence that they would happen. He gave Peter the keys to heaven when he gave his life on the cross. They all knew that without that sacrifice, there would be no good news or hope to give those left behind.The Key is the Holy Spirit.

Answer 4

This scene in the Bible has been so abused and twisted!

First of all, the twelve apostles were not the only disciples Jesus had. He had a great many followers, many of whom were women. When He asked the question "whom do you say that I am" He was addressing ALL of His disciples, NOT only the twelve. These remarks were addressed to ALL of His disciples.

Peter was the first one who answered His question. Jesus named him "Cephas" or "rock", because of the faith he showed. The comment "upon this rock I will build my church" does not refer back to Peter, but to that sort of faith. JESUS is the rock upon which the church is built "1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Peter is NOT the foundation of the church, Jesus is.

Who has not learned the Lord's prayer? When Jesus taught His disciples to pray (again, that would be ALL of His disciples), He taught them to forgive their debtors. God, Who judges hearts, knows which sins to forgive, and which sins to retain...when you hold on to some injustice you feel you have suffered, the only one you actually hurt is yourself.

Jesus did not hand over the keys to the kingdom to Peter alone, but, once again, ALL of His disciples were included. The key to the Kingdom, of course, is Jesus, Himself.

Did Jesus name Peter the new leader of the church? Let's see:
Mat 16:22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
Mat 16:23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

And again, if Peter had authority over the church, why did he and Paul both appeal to the church in Jerusalem over the question of circumcision?

Finally, there was some controversy between Paul and Peter over Peter's attitude toward the gentile believers...which seemed to change when James appeared (see Galations 11). Both Peter and Paul deferred to James, the brother of Christ, indicating that, if anyone held the final authority in the infant church, it was James, and not Peter.

Some would have us to believe that Peter was the first in a line of men who hold the authority of Christ on earth...I have often wondered, what will Peter (who denied His Lord thrice, and who was rebuked so soon after his declaration that Jesus was the Son of God, and who was taken to task for his attitude toward the gentiles) think when he finds out that he, of all men, was chosen to be the first "pope"?? I think he will be very embarrassed...

Answer 5

Your facts are not accurate. However, if you are referring to the John scripture what Jesus was referring to is that whatever we do it is bound by God's promise of forgiveness by Jesus' Crucifixion. Read James 1 through 17 and John 3 through 7 and you will find your answer.

Answer 6

let me start by saying that we have all been given the keys to heaven. the words power and forgive basically mean the same thing in this paragraph. to forgive anyone and anything of this world is like trading for heaven. keep trading by forgiving and you aquire a little more heaven each time.
we become what we love. we are bound by what we don't love. we free ourselves by accepting the perspective of reality rather than the deception of illusion. all is, rather than all could be. judge not, lest you be judged. acceptance is far more tolerable.
the key to heaven is in the eye of the beholder, always.

Answer 7

They - especially Peter - would have the most influence on the spread of the gospel. If they had not shared do you not think the earth would be "bound" and "unforgiven". He gave them the responsibility of sharing the message, writing the gospels, etc. If they had not written the gospels would any part of Christianity be credible? Think about that! No one would believe it today if eyewitness accounts had not been saved.

Answer 8

They were given Authority from Christ Himself. When they accepted one into the church was as if Christ Himself accepted them and when they declared one having no part of the church and Christ it also came with this authority. Not that men are perfect but that Christ does indeed work through the true church in this way

Answer 9

It means exactly what he said. There is no room for reinventing or interpretation. It was not a parable.

These were men who shown themselves as obedient - one of the chief requirements of operation of faith. If you live Christ, breath Christ and Christ is in you - then you have power to do so.

This does not mean self indulgent people but people who proved themselves as responsible and acting in love and boldness - with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit directing them.

A Man who thinks to get saved and use such power (authority) for his own selfish ambition will not see such authority.

Answer 10

Yes, Jesus have given us that is Saved, Sanctified, and Baptized in his name , the authority through the power of the Holyghost to bind and loose some things in the "spirit relm"! Which is, the devil and his impe's that he sends out to reak havoc on the world, also demonic spirits and much more!