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Keys
of the Kingdom
By John Tvedtnes
[Supplement to Gospel Doctrine
New Testament lesson 13]
During his mortal ministry, Jesus
promised the apostle Peter, “I will give unto thee the keys
of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19; note the
singular forms thee and thou).
A few days later, Jesus took his
three leading apostles, Peter, James, and John, with him to
a mountaintop, where Moses and Elijah (New Testament Greek form
Elias) appeared to them (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36).
Of this event, Joseph Smith declared:
The Savior, Moses,
and Elias, gave the keys to Peter, James, and John, on the mount
when they were transfigured before him” (History of the Church
3:387). The rest of the apostles subsequently received these
keys, for Jesus, addressing all of them (note the plural ye),
said, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:
and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven
(Matthew 18:18).
In an early revelation, Joseph
Smith learned that Christ told Peter that he, James, and John
would hold the keys: “And I will make thee to minister for him
and for thy brother James; and unto you three I will give this
power and the keys of this ministry until I come” (D&C 7:7).
Joseph Smith and subsequent leaders of the restored Church have
taught that all of the apostles hold keys, but that the senior
apostle is the one who presides and thus exercises all the keys. [2]
The fourth-century A.D. Syrian
Christian writer Ephraim had the same view as Joseph Smith regarding
these keys. He wrote that “although the twelve had keys they
had nevertheless been given to Simon [Peter], because he was
indeed the head; upon his preaching [Jesus] said He would build
his Church” (Commentary on Genesis 6). [3]
Jerome (died A.D. 420) expressed
a similar view:
But you say, the
Church was founded upon Peter: although elsewhere the same is
attributed to all the Apostles, and they all receive the keys
of the kingdom of heaven, and the strength of the Church depends
upon them all alike, yet one among the twelve is chosen so that
when a head has been appointed, there may be no occasion for
schism. But why was not John chosen, who was a virgin? Deference
was paid to age, because Peter was the elder: one who was a
youth, I may say almost a boy, could not be set over men of
advanced age (Against Jovinianus 1.26). [4]
Latter-day Saints typically think
of priesthood keys in terms of presiding authority and sealing
of families, including work for the dead. Indeed, Joseph Smith
cited Matthew 16:18-19 in reference to baptism for the dead
and the sealing of children to their parents, whether dead or
alive (D&C 128:10-11, 14, 18). His explanation is best understood
by returning to Christ’s words to Peter, in which he said of
the Church that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it,” then immediately added, “I will give unto thee the keys
of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 16:18-19).
Keys versus Gates
Some critics of the restored Church
have argued that this passage means that there could not have
been an apostasy, since Christ promised that the gates of hell
would not prevail against the Church. Such an interpretation,
however, assumes that gates are wont to attack institutions
such as a church.
In reality, gates are intended
to keep people in (as in a prison) or to keep others out (as
in a walled city under siege by the enemy). The gates of hell
(Greek hades, the realm of the dead) are intended to
keep people in. But the keys of the kingdom can open the gates
of hell, allowing the Church to enter and the message of salvation
to be declared among the dead. Joseph Smith taught that “there
is a way to release the spirits of the dead; that is by the
power and authority of the Priesthood — by binding not loosing
on earth” (History of the Church 4:425).
This explains why the risen Christ
told the apostle John, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and,
behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of
hell and of death” (Revelation 1:18). Christ also described
himself as “he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the
key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth,
and no man openeth” (Revelation 3:7), citing a prophecy of Isaiah,
“And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder;
so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and
none shall open” (Isaiah 22:22). The concept of shutting and
opening is the same as that of sealing and loosing.
It is Christ who eternally holds
the keys, though he allows angels, prophets, and apostles to
use them. Thus, though he holds the keys of death and hell,
the apostle John saw in vision an angel possessing the key of
the bottomless pit in which Satan will be imprisoned during
the millennium (Revelation 9:1; 20:1-3).
Ephraim
of Syria described Christ’s eternal possession of the keys as
well as the confirmation of these keys at the hand of the man
Simeon, who blessed the infant Jesus in the Jerusalem temple
(Luke 2:25-35): “the keys of priesthood and prophecy
to Him who has authority over the treasurer of them both ...
the keys which He had received from Simeon the priest, them
He gave to another Simeon the Apostle,” [5] who came to be called Peter [Matthew
16:15-19]” (Hymns for the Feast of the Epiphany, Three Homilies
on Our Lord 1:51-52). [6]
Ephraim also wrote:
Because John [the
Baptist] also was the treasurer of baptism, the Lord of the
stewardship came to him to receive from him the keys of the
house of reconciliation ... Accordingly, even us our Lord when
He was baptized, was clothed in baptism and carried baptism
with Him, so also when He was presented in the Temple, He put
on prophecy and priesthood, and went forth bearing the purity
of the priesthood upon His pure members, and bearing the words
of prophecy in His wondrous ears.
For when Simeon was sanctifying the body of the Child who sanctifies
all, that body received the priesthood its sanctification. And
again, when Simeon was prophesying over Him, prophecy quickly
entered the hearing of the Child ... Accordingly, each one of
the gifts that was stored up for the Son, He gathered from their
true tree. For He received baptism from the Jordan
... He received priesthood from the Temple
... He received prophecy which had been handed down amongst
the righteous ... and He received the kingdom from the house
of David” (Homily on Our Lord 53-54). [7]
For an introduction to the books
of the New Testament and in-depth discussions of each verse
in the New Testament, see Kevin L. Barney (ed.), John H. Jenkins,
and John A. Tvedtnes, “Footnotes to the New Testament for Latter-day
Saints,” go to: http://feastupontheword.org/Site:NTFootnotes
[2]
This is true regardless of whether there is a First Presidency
or the Twelve Apostles constitute the presidency of the Church.
[3] Edward G. Matthews, Jr., The Armenian
Commentary on Genesis Attributed to Ephrem the Syrian, Corpus
Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium vol. 573, Scriptores Armeniaci
vol. 24. (Louvain, Belgium: Peeters, 1998), 98.
[4] Philip Schaff and Henry Wace,
eds., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series (reprint,
Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), 6:366. When the
quorum of the twelve apostles was re-established in February
1835, the eldest member served as president. As others were
called to fill vacancies in the quorum, it was the one who had
been ordained earliest who presided.
[5] The Hebrew name rendered Simeon in the Old Testament
is the same as the one rendered Simon in the New Testament.
[6] Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds.,
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, 13:328-9.
For a lengthier quote of the passage and a discussion thereof,
see John A. Tvedtnes, “Jesus’ Priesthood,” posted on the Meridian
web site at http://www.meridianmagazine.com/gospeldoctrine/nt/070112nt3sf.html
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About
the Author: |
John
A. Tvedtnes, senior resident scholar at the Institute for the
Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts, Brigham Young
University, earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from the
University of Utah in 1969. He received a master's degree in linguistics
and Middle East Studies (Hebrew), with minors in Arabic, anthropology,
and archeology, from the University of Utah. Tvedtnes also completed
much of his course work for a Ph.D. in Egyptian and Semitic languages
at the Hebrew University
Tvedtnes is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, the
World Union of Jewish Studies, and the International Society for
the Comparative Study of Civilizations. Tvedtnes has prepared
papers at conferences sponsored by many societies and organizations,
including the Society for Early Historic Archaeology, the Society
of Biblical Literature and the Deseret Languages and Linguistics
Society.
Born in North Dakota, Tvedtnes has lived in Montana, Washington,
France, Switzerland, and Israel. He served a full-time mission
for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France
and Switzerland. He has also served as a stake and district missionary
in Salt Lake City and Jerusalem. Tvedtnes has six children and
several grandchildren. His wife's name is Carol.
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