“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19

Interestingly these verses were part of a conversation between the Lord Jesus and Peter, where Matthew records the Lord Jesus Christ as saying these words to Peter.

The whole thing stemmed from Jesus's question to His disciples: 

"Who do people say the Son of Man is?”" They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

In verse 15, Jesus closes in further:

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Ver. 16. Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

ver 17. Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be  loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Peter had clearly known who Jesus was. He knew Jesus was not just another prophet like John the Baptist or Elijah or Jeremiah or any of the prophets in the Old Testament, but that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God! Praise the Lord.

Since Peter had the fundamentals clear Jesus knew he was the best to build His church on. To be given authority to bind and loose. Amen!

Do we know who Jesus is? If so, then the very authority is given to us - His disciples, so we can bind and loose as well. Amen!