The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven
by Brother Martin
Matthew 16:19: ‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”(ESV).
Jesus gave to his disciples the keys of the kingdom of heaven. (The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are synonyms). In general these keys have been interpreted to mean the keys of power and authority. Somewhere Jesus tells to the scribes and Pharisees: ‘you have the keys to the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven, neither you enter nor allow others to enter’. What is the kingdom of God and what are the keys to the kingdom of heaven? Jesus described the kingdom of God in various ways. I take two important ones:
‘The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all seeds. But when it grows it becomes so big that the birds of the air will come and make their nests in it.’
‘The kingdom of God is like a woman who took yeast and put in three measures of flower until it was leavened’.
The first parable reveals growth. A seed has the potential to grow into a tree. Every human being is like a seed of God. This seed of God has to grow into the tree of God. It also means that the individual consciousness has to grow into the divine consciousness in which there is a place for all individuals and all collective belief systems (nests).
The second parable reveals that the kingdom of God is the transformation of life. The yeast symbolizes the divine, the infinite; the flour symbolizes human, the finite. When the infinite enters into the finite, the finite is transformed. It is divinized. The above (infinite) becomes below (finite) and the below (finite) becomes above (infinite). The kingdom of God is the divinization of human or the finite. It is the transformation of our life into the life of God and transformation of our actions into the actions of God. We need to see above as manifesting in the below and below as the manifestation of above. Whatever aspect we deny within us, in the below, will not be transformed by the above. It is like the celebration of the Eucharist, transforming the bread and the wine into the body and blood of Christ or God. It is the new heaven and the new earth. Jesus Christ said, ‘the works which I do are not my own, but the Father who dwells in me does his works’. This is the life of the kingdom of God.
There are two types of spiritualties: one is based on religion or a belief system. The second one is based on God. In the spirituality that is based on religion, first comes religion or a belief system, second comes God who is understood according to that belief system and third come human beings who have to worship God in that belief system. In this spirituality people say ‘My belief system is my way, my truth and my life’. In the spirituality based on God, first comes God who is greater than belief systems and human beings, second come human beings who have transcended the belief systems, and third come belief systems which are meant to be at the service of human beings. In this spirituality people say ‘God is my way, my truth and my life’. If we use the analogy of a tree, the spirituality of the belief systems founded on the branches and the spirituality based on God is founded on the trunk and the roots. In the Biblical tradition, the first is related to the first Covenant or Old Covenant, based on Ten Commandments; the second one is related to the New Covenant, where the Law is written in the heart of people.
At the moment of his baptism, Jesus Christ transcended the first Covenant and inaugurated the New Covenant. He transcended the branch consciousness and entered into the trunk consciousness and finally into the roots consciousness. He invited people to outgrow the First Covenant and enter into the New Covenant. The Scripture has mentioned this new life with many words like ‘New Covenant’ or ‘Heart of Flesh’, and has given this possibility to everyone. The religious leaders did not use this knowledge and possibility for themselves and did not allow others to use it. For this reason Jesus was angry with the religious leaders and said, ‘you have the keys to the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven, neither you enter nor allow others to enter’. Jesus Christ used these keys and entered into the New Covenant and finally into oneness with God. He invited everyone to do the same with the words like ‘repent’ and ‘rebirth’.
Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven to his disciples. There are two types of keys: ordinary keys and the keys of the kingdom of God. With ordinary keys one can open the doors and close them. They represent power and authority over others. One has the power to keep people outside or inside. The keys of the kingdom of God are different. These keys are the keys of wisdom that relativizes the spirituality based on the belief systems (branches) and opens the door to the spirituality based on God (the trunk and the roots). These keys open the door of a belief system and allow people to move into freedom. Belief systems create collective consciousness or groups with specific boundaries. Those who live in boundaries need to protect their boundaries and also will have the ambition to expand their boundaries and increase their numbers. The kingdom of God is the universal consciousness. It does not have any boundaries. It does not need to protect its boundaries and does not have an ambition to expand its boundaries and increase its numbers. It is all embracing consciousness. Let us use the analogy of a cage. A person, who has the keys to the cage, has the power to keep the birds inside the cage or outside of it. But a person, who has the keys of the kingdom of God, will open the gate of the cage and transforms the cage into a nest. In this way this person can only open the gate but cannot close it. That means with the keys of the kingdom of heaven we can only open the gate but cannot close. We can only liberate people but cannot imprison them. Jesus did not give to his disciples or to Peter, the ordinary keys of power and authority. He gave them the keys of the kingdom of God. With these keys they can only open the gate of the belief of systems and transform them into nests so that they can fly into the infinite freedom of the life of the kingdom of God and also help others to do the same.
The keys of the kingdom of God do not give anyone the power and authority over others. They are not material keys but the keys of wisdom that relativizes the belief systems and open the door to freedom. These keys liberate people from all oppressive structures. Jesus revealed his disciples the secret of the kingdom of God. He had given them the keys that open the door to the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, the transformation of one’s life into the life of God. The kingdom of God is the solid rock on which Jesus built his community. It is the ultimate destiny of every human being and every belief system. No power on earth or in heaven can prevail against this kingdom. These keys were actually present in the scriptures but people, including the religious leaders, did not use them for their spiritual growth or evolution. It is unfortunate that the Christian tradition has interpreted these keys of the kingdom of God into ordinary keys and transformed the keys of liberation and growth into the keys of power, control, oppression and spiritual stagnation. Jesus opened the door but the Christian tradition has again closed it. It created boundaries to the truth that has no boundaries. It confined people again to the spirituality based on belief systems or collective conscious nesses. It initiated the mission to expand its boundaries and increase its numbers. If Jesus Christ comes today he will say to the Christian leaders the same thing what he told to the spiritual leaders two thousand fourteen years ago: ‘you have the keys to the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven neither you enter nor allow others to enter’. Is it not the right time for Christianity to rediscover the original meaning of the keys of the kingdom of heaven?