Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. [Matthew 16.15-19]
For all the talk Jesus spent on repeating Himself about people having, "eyes to see, and ears to hear..." we see here that Peter "saw" and "heard."
This is significant because it is significant! For Jesus' time of ministry upon earth to have fulfilled its teaching purpose, eyes must see and ears must hear - in other words, hearts must understand the Truth. We know this to be true because Jesus almost immediately began to prepare His disciples for His death and resurrection after this revelation in Peter's life.
The Truth was a simple truth too. It was the revelation that Jesus is Messiah, not only sent from God, but is God. And, as God, Jesus was fully vetted and equipped to share the Kingdom with mankind. So powerful is the possession of the keys of the Kingdom that the distinctions between heaven and earth are removed by the one who holds the keys.
This is what Jesus was preparing His disciples for when He taught them to pray for God's will on earth "as it is in heaven." We know we are walking in understanding when we use the keys of the Kingdom to bring "heaven" to the lives of people on "earth."
Thank God we were not told to pray for things on earth to be "as it is on earth!"
Father, help us all to have the simple understanding and revelation of Who Jesus Is (and therefore who we are).
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