The Lord gives Peter a great reward, that the Church will
be built on him. Since Peter confessed Him as Son of God, the Lord says, '
'This confession which you have made shall be the foundation of those who
believe, so that every man who intends to build the house of faith shall lay
down this confession as the foundation. ' ' For even if we should construct a
myriad of virtues, but we do not have as a foundation the orthodox confession,
our construction is rotten. By saying "My Church" He shows that He is
the Master of all, for the whole universe is the servant of God. The gates of
hades are those persecutors who from time to time would send the Christians to
hades. But the heretics, too, are gates leading to hades. The Church, then, has
prevailed over many persecutors and many heretics. The Church is also each one
of us who has become a house of God. For if we have been established on the
confession of Christ, the gates of hades, which are our sins, will not prevail
against us. It was from these gates that David, too, had been lifted up when he
said, “O Thou that dost raise me up from the gates of death.”From what gates, O
David? From those twin gates of murder and adultery. (The Explanation by
Blessed Theophylact of the Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew [trans.
Christopher Stade; Bl. Theophylact's Explanation of the New Testament 1; House
Springs, Miss.: Chrysostom Press, 2006], 140)
He spoke as God, with authority, "I will give unto thee." For as the Father gave you the revelation, so I give you the keys. By "keys" understand that which binds or looses transgressions, namely, penance or absolution; for those who, like Peter, have been deemed worthy of the grace of the episcopate, have the authority to absolve or to bind. Even though the words "I will give unto thee" were spoken to Peter alone, yet they were given to all the apostles. Why? Because He said, "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted. " Also, the words "I will give" indicate a future time, namely, after the Resurrection. "The heavens" also mean the virtues, and the keys to the heavens are labors. For by laboring we enter into each of the virtues as if by means of keys that are used to open. If I do not labor but only know the good, I possess only the key of knowledge but remain outside. That man is bound in the heavens, that is, in the virtues, who does not walk in them, but he who is diligent in acquiring virtues is loosed in them. Therefore let us not have sins, so that we may not be bound by the chains of our own sins. (The Explanation by Blessed Theophylact of the Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew [trans. Christopher Stade; Bl. Theophylact's Explanation of the New Testament 1; House Springs, Miss.: Chrysostom Press, 2006], 140-41)
To Support this Blog:
Email for Amazon Gift
card: ScripturalMormonism@gmail.com
Email for Logos.com Gift
Card: IrishLDS87@gmail.com
