Why did Jesus tell the disciples to keep their mouths shut? I mean, Peter had just figured the whole thing out, right? He’d answered the million dollar question correctly, and it was time to walk home with all the cash and prizes. “Who am I?” Jesus asks, and while others think he might be John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or maybe some other prophet, Peter comes up with the right answer, and Jesus is obviously pleased. But then he lays some seriously heavy responsibility on Peter and tells them all to keep quiet about the whole thing.

Before we get to Jesus’ cover-up, let’s look at the rest of the story. There’s actually quite a bit going on here, so let me break it down for you. First off, did you notice all the name changing? Simon, son of Jonah, gives Jesus his new last name of Christos by recognizing Jesus as the Messiah the Jews had been waiting for all this time. Jesus returns the favor by giving Simon the new name Peter, and calling him the rock on which the community of Jesus was to be built. Much trouble has come of both these new names. Peter may have been the first to recognize the Messiah in Jesus of Nazareth, but for a long time he was one of only a very few who did. The people who didn’t see it Peter’s way beat up on him and his friends until there were more of them, then Peter and friends beat up on the other guys for awhile. And even among those of us that think Peter got it right, Jesus making him the rock of the church has been the subject of numerous and bloody disputes over the few hundred years we’ve had to think about it. New names for new people, or just a recognition of what they already were? Probably the latter. Peter the Rock, and Jesus the Christ. The secret’s out.

Immediately following all this name changing, Jesus tells the disciples that the very gates of hell cannot stand against the church. This metaphor has been seen historically by Christians as an image of their church, or their faith, being under siege by the powers of death and hell. The City of God stands shining on the hill, surrounded by the forces of darkness. But that’s not what Jesus said. He said that the gates of hell couldn’t stand against the church. If hell were attacking the church, why would it be beating at us with its own gates? That doesn’t make a lot of sense. It’s actually the church that’s beating at the gates of hell, taking the fight to the enemy, not standing surrounded. If all this metaphorical talk about cosmic battles between good and evil leaves you cold, then think of it this way: Jesus said that the People of God would have the power, the authority, and the courage to fight against the things of death. Things like despair, and loneliness, and hate. We are not under siege; we are charging in.
And the last piece of this puzzle before we get back to undercover Jesus, is this idea of the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus tells the newly named Peter that he’s going to give him the keys of heaven. In most of the ensuing theological discussion, and all of the ensuing bad jokes about getting into heaven, Peter is thought of as hanging out next to a podium, standing on a cloud in front of the incredibly tall pearly gates, interviewing folks who have died and want in to heaven. Since Peter has the keys, we figure he must be the one who lets people in.

It’s an understandable mistake, and it may not even be a mistake. One reason to have a set of keys it to keep things locked up, to keep what you want in, safe from what you don’t want in. Keys lock doors that keep things in. There is another side to this though. Instead of thinking like the jailor, try thinking like the unjustly jailed. Keys may lock doors that keep things in, but they also unlock doors, and let things out. Maybe that’s what Jesus meant. Maybe he didn’t want Peter to keep heaven and the church locked up so that only certain people could get in. Maybe instead he wanted Peter to unlock everything and throw the doors wide open. Maybe the gates of the kingdom of heaven were meant to be unlocked. Maybe Peter was supposed to be a liberator, not a bouncer. And maybe the gates of heaven aren’t tall and pearly, and floating on a cloud. Maybe they’re gates on our hearts, and they need to be unlocked and opened, not closed and secured.

So what about Jesus trying to cover up the newly released secret of his Messianic nature? Why did he tell the disciples to keep quiet? I think it has to do with the heavy responsibility he lays on Peter, and on the disciples, and on us. “…whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Think of this as a continuation of the keys idea. It’s not so much the binding that we need to be concerned with. It’s the loosing. We are not called to go around tieing everyone up with our moralizing and our rule-making, and our certainty that we know who gets into heaven. We are called to be loosers. Peter, the disciples, and we are sent out into the world to set loose the kingdom of God. And we are sent under orders. That’s the heavy responsibility part. Peter figured it out, and we still believe it. It’s our job to set the whole thing loose.

So why did Jesus tell the disciples to keep quiet? Honestly, I don’t know. That was just a tease to get you to listen to the whole sermon. I don’t know why Jesus wanted the whole thing kept under wraps. Maybe he didn’t think the disciples were ready. Maybe he didn’t want to get too famous too fast. Maybe he was just offering them a preview. I don’t know. And it doesn’t really matter. The things that matter are these: Jesus is seen for what he was, Peter is given the keys to set us all free, the church is given the power to fight death and win, and we are given the command to run around loosing the kingdom of God like crazy. Go forth and see if you can’t loose a little bit today.