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VATICAN CITY // The passage in Matthew when Jesus gives Peter the keys to the kingdom of Heaven is frequently mentioned when Catholics cite where the papacy is found in Scripture, but there are other instances in both the Old and New Testaments that prove the Church’s leader‘s role is biblically based, a priest and Rome-based theology professor explained in a recent interview with CatholicVote.
“When we think about the origin of the papacy, I think we have to be careful not to imagine that it was brought out of nothing in the times of Christ,” Father Andrew Dalton, L.C., a professor at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, said in a May 1 phone interview. “Rather, Jesus is restoring a Davidic kingdom; a kingdom that already exists, it was promised to Abraham, it was established in David.”
He pointed to the Vatican II dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium, which states in part: “Israel according to the flesh, which wandered as an exile in the desert, was already called the Church of God. So likewise the new Israel which while living in this present age goes in search of a future and abiding city is called the Church of Christ.”
The Davidic kingdom, which had been damaged during the Babylonian exile, was restored, transfigured, and fulfilled in Christ the King through His Paschal Mystery, continued Fr. Dalton, who teaches on the Synoptic Gospels, as well as biblical Greek and Hebrew.
Now enthroned in Heaven, “[Jesus] continues to govern His Church,” Fr. Dalton added, “But He does so through Peter, His vicar, and the whole College that is in communion with Him. He’s the chief Shepherd, but there are so many disciple shepherds, too.”
Fr. Dalton shared about passages from Isaiah, Matthew, John, and Luke, as important in reflecting upon this topic. He also recommended considering Numbers 27:17-23, Acts 1, and 1 Peter 5.
Isaiah 22 and the responsibility of the chief steward
In Isaiah 22:20-22, the Lord declares that He will summon Eliakim and “confer on him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one will shut, what he shuts, no one will open.”
Eliakim is entrusted to be “the chief steward, the one who was over the house,” which in Hebrew is al ha-bayith, Fr. Dalton explained.
“So when the king is away,” he said, “who determines when those portals are opened? And so as to cast out those from the inside, or let in those from the outside? The vicar, the one who holds the keys, the one who has a delegated authority from the king himself.”
The language of imparting authority is in Matthew 16:13-19 as well, although not with the exact vocabulary of “authority,” but with the image of the keys, Fr. Dalton said. Jesus tells Peter in verse 19, “I 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.”
Fr. Dalton stated that this is “clearly an impartation, a gift of delegated authority that Jesus is giving to Peter … This is the message: You will be My representative, My emissary, the one who has received, from above, an authority, in order to do what I’ve entrusted you to do.”
Luke 22:32: ‘You must strengthen your brothers’
In Saint Peter’s Basilica, there are two verses in Latin inscribed in massive letters all along the church’s trabeation, or the horizontal beams up high running along the walls: Matthew 16:19, and Luke 22:32.
In Luke 22:31 at the Last Supper, Jesus says, “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat,” and He then says in verse 32, “but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.”
Fr. Dalton pointed out that Jesus speaks plurally – “all of you” – about who Satan is demanding to sift, but then speaks about how His solution to this is to pray for a singular man: Peter.
Peter’s mission, therefore, is “for the sake of the brethren,” Fr. Dalton said. “It’s for the sake of the family of God, that Peter is prayed for.”
And because Jesus is the Son of God, His prayer is efficacious and “cannot go unheard,” Fr. Dalton added. So, he continued, Catholics place confidence in Peter, not because he is incredibly smart or “a great success story,” but because he, a fisherman, has been made the chief steward of the house, prime minister, so as “to deliver …. God’s truth, God’s provision from Heaven to earth.”
Jesus commissions the apostles in the Gospel of Matthew
The commissioning of the 12 apostles in the gospel of Matthew is also important to the topic of the papacy, Fr. Dalton said.
After recounting a number of miracles Jesus performed in the past two chapters, Matthew 9:36-38 states: “At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.’”
Fr. Dalton noted here that Jesus does not directly provide for the sheep, but instead “translates” his compassion for them to the apostles.
The very next verse, Matthew 10:1, states: “Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.”
This translation of compassion is “a gift of authority or power,” which enables the apostles to perform miracles as Jesus had been doing.
“Kingdom power was on display in the ministry of Jesus,” Fr. Dalton said, noting the miracles in previous chapters. “Kingdom power is now going to be delegated to the ones He commissions to do what He does. So, what is authority? It’s the translation of God’s compassion.”
This is how Jesus as the Good Shepherd provides for His sheep, Fr. Dalton said: through “empowered emissaries” whose task is to proclaim, as Jesus told them, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
He noted that the verbs Jesus uses when He tells the apostles what miracles to perform are the same verbs used to describe the miracles that Jesus had performed.
“In other words,” Fr. Dalton continued, “they’re to do Jesus’ deeds… they’re to carry forward that which He began there, to bring to completion the good work God began in the Christ. And that’s why we call ourselves Christians, right? Because we are in Christ; we commune with Him, and it is by virtue of our communion that He gives to creaturely instruments that which is proper to Himself.”
“So, there are really strong implications to this,” Fr. Dalton continued. “Do we want the healing that comes from God? Well, go to the ones who are empowered with this strength from on high, right? Because it’s God’s strength, it’s God-power that’s manifest in Jesus, while now it’s imparted to the apostles.”
Matthew’s Gospel concludes with Jesus telling His remaining 11 apostles: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Though it might seem odd for Jesus to move from speaking about His power, or authority, immediately to telling the apostles they are to be the ones to go out, the key to understanding this passage is Jesus’ words at the end: that He is always with them.
“That’s what makes sense of the sending,” Fr. Dalton said. “They can go out and effectively make disciples because they’ve been empowered by the One with all power.”
John 21: ‘Feed my sheep’
Jesus also entrusts Peter specifically in John 21:15-17 with a special responsibility: “Feed my lambs,” “Tend my sheep,” and “Feed my sheep.”
Part of how Peter and his successors heed these commands is through carrying on Jesus’ teachings in the Magisterium, nourishing the flock with God’s truth, Dr. Dalton explained, encouraging Catholics to be aware and obedient to this teaching authority of the Church.
“Do we want the food that Jesus would provide for His people?” Fr. Dalton said. “Well, then we need to be shepherded by Peter.”