Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends on this Friday the 13th!
Now that combination of Friday, and the 13th day of the month, doesn’t concern you, does it? For those of us who each day walk with the confidence that Jesus is with us AND He is sovereign over all, we actually look forward to watching God involve us TODAY in whatever HE is doing in our world, right?
Have you ever known a person who carries a large ring of keys with them, perhaps dangling from their belt? My wife’s father was the facilities manager for a very large high school near Chicago years ago, and he had a key on his huge key ring for EVERY door that had a lock anywhere in that facility!
Today, let’s join the disciples as Jesus said something shocking to them about KEYS! We’re still in Matthew 16, at Caesarea Philippi, where we’ve been the past few days. After Jesus told the disciples that HE would be building His global church, on the rock of His identity and His atonement death and resurrection, Jesus said this: “I will give you the KEYS of the kingdom of heaven…” (Matt. 16:19)
Can you imagine how that statement shocked them? The keys to the kingdom of heaven?? What could Jesus possibly mean by that? Do you remember the words Jesus had spoken to four of these disciples when He first invited them to join Him? Mark 1:17 tells us Jesus challenged Peter, his brother Andrew, John and his brother James to leave their fishing nets and follow Him: “Come, follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17)
Now, after several months together in which all 12 disciples had watched Jesus do many miracles and heard Jesus proclaim remarkable things which He claimed were God’s truth which God wanted the world to know... now these ordinary guys were shocked to hear Jesus tell them He was about to give them keys to the kingdom of heaven!!
Obviously, Jesus was not giving each of them a key ring with hundreds of metal keys on it. Rather Jesus was now challenging these guys to consider how well they had been paying attention to all they’d seen Jesus do and heard Jesus say. Why? Because these 12 would soon be commissioned by Jesus to go out as His representatives to the world and tell all who would listen what they had witnessed and HOW to gain entrance into God’s kingdom of heaven, according to Jesus! Pause. How long have you had a Bible? How long do you consider that you’ve been a Christian? What do you understand is Jesus’ explanation of HOW to get into the kingdom of heaven?
This phrase, ‘the kingdom of heaven’ was interchangeably used by Jesus with the phrase “the kingdom of God”. (Mark 1:15) We understand kingdoms, don’t we, my friends? There are many kingdoms in our world today! Kingdoms are geographical places with citizens, a culture and a king! The kingdom of heaven is a place…HEAVEN, and it has citizens, holy angels, and the souls/spirits of all deceased believers in God. And of course, heaven is the place all believers in Jesus will go eventually where we will spend eternity with God.
The kingdom of God has a culture and the Bible, both Old and New Testament, describe that culture and how we should live as citizens of God’s kingdom. And the kingdom of heaven has a king… the resurrected Jesus Christ in all His glory! (Rev. 19:16) But the kingdom of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit of God alive in the people of God, is God’s kingdom here on earth as well as in heaven, right. Remember Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10) So what did Jesus mean by telling His disciples that they would receive from Jesus KEYS to this heavenly kingdom of God?
My father-in-law who had that huge ring of keys for a very large public school did not OWN the school, nor had he built the school, nor was he the king of that kingdom. But he was entrusted with the keys which could open any door, any office, so he could admit INTO that place any person who was qualified to enter but did not have keys themself. Oh my, I believe that is a perfect picture of what Jesus was telling His disciples.
So, WHAT are the KEYS / WHEN did Jesus give His disciples these remarkable keys to the kingdom of God and HOW did those disciples use those keys? And finally, what does this have to do with you and me, 2000 years later?
First: The keys Jesus spoke of are the TRUTH Jesus was teaching these men and the TRUTH of what Jesus accomplished to earn entrance into the kingdom for ANY person!
Among the last words Jesus said to the disciples before ascending back to heaven are these: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Now go and make disciples of all people, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…” (Matt. 28:18-20)
Jesus also said to them: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Ok my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends, do you see it? The disciples, who had been with Jesus for nearly 3 years, watching and listening, were told by Jesus to go out, anointed by the Holy Spirit of God, and PROCLAIM the truths they had learned from Jesus about HOW any person could gain access to and become a citizen of the kingdom of God! The KEYS were the essential TRUTHS about Jesus. Today, let me close with TWO of the keys, and tomorrow we’ll look at more.
Key #1… The Truthful IDENTITY of Jesus Christ. Entrance into the kingdom of God begins with Jesus and WHO He is! There is NO entrance into God’s kingdom apart from Jesus, right? (John 14:6) Key #1 is what Peter had proclaimed there at Caesarea Philippi about Jesus: “You are the Christ (Messiah) the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:16) Anyone desiring to gain entrance into the kingdom of God must acknowledge the truth of WHO Jesus is and believe it with all their heart! (Romans 10:9)
Key #2… The Truth of the INCARNATION of Jesus! Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem, is ETERNALLY God, who came to earth for a temporary few years, taking on a human body. Why? Because He must live a sinless life here and die an atonement death on the cross, to pay the full price for our sin guilt before God! (Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 Peter 1:18-20)
Now, we’ll pause right here to ponder these keys to the kingdom Jesus was giving to His disciples, and tomorrow we’ll look at several more. Important ‘lessons learned’ notes are at the link below, and of course a wonderful worship song, and I’ll be here waiting for you, tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: Matt. 16:19.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.