Mt 16:13-19
13When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. 18And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
KEYS OF THE KINGDOM: Isaiah 22:22 speaks of the “key of the House of David” by which the people of God are made secure. In Jewish interpretations, the key of David refers to the teachers of the Law who were then exiled in Babylon. They would inculcate the will of God to the people as Moses did in his time.
Jesus alludes to this understanding when, in denouncing the scribes and the Pharisees, he says that they “lock the kingdom of heaven before human beings” (Mt 23:23). These teachers of the Law have the “key” to give entrance into the kingdom because they “sit on the chair of Moses” (Mt 23:3), that is, they have the authority of Moses. But they exercise the power of the key in such a way as to be an obstacle to its entrance. They have “taken away the key of knowledge.” They themselves do not enter and they stop those trying to enter it (Lk 11:52).
Jesus says that the key is now given to his followers, especially to Simon Peter. The power “to bind and to loose” refers to the authority to declare a commandment binding or not binding, and the disciplinary power to “bind” the transgressor. In particular, this refers to the authority to “open heaven” through forgiveness. Jesus alone holds this authority, but this has been given to Peter. But what is said to Peter (v 19) is applied also to all the disciples (Mt 18:18). It is the community which holds this power, but someone in the community, like a single leader, can exercise this power in the performance of the community’s ministry.