I love Matthew 16 where the Lord asks His disciples the question, “Who do you say that I am?” As we know, Peter answers correctly, saying, “You are Christ, the Son of the living God.” What happens out of this divine revelation is of epic proportions—Jesus goes on to declare to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” In other words, as Peter sees the reality of who Christ is, the Son of God opens the door to his identity. I can almost hear Jesus saying, “Good job Peter, now I’m going to tell you who you are, and what is available inside of that.” Although there are many revelations awaiting the reader in this passage, I want to focus on the binding and loosing part. 

I use to understand this verse to say, “Whatever you bind (loose) on earth will be bound (loosed) in heaven…”  I loved the fact that Jesus would hand believers the keys of authority, yet struggled with the idea that what we bound here would be bound in heaven, and what we loosed here would be loosed there. It kinda seemed a little backwards—nonetheless, I kinda pushed it to the side and focused on the glory of how Jesus would give us such amazing keys of authority. 

Most recently, I’ve come to understand that verse as saying something totally different. In the Greek translation, the verse would read more like this: “I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, and whatever you forbid on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven.” 

Do you see the difference of our modern translations versus the original Greek translation (the meaning of what the disciples would’ve heard Jesus saying)?  It changes from putting the emphasis of binding (or loosing) first on earth, to it must first be bound (or loosed) in heaven. The point of origin moves from our world to His. In other words, the first word and legal authority comes from heaven, God’s dwelling place. 

Talk about an upgrade of perspective—we now see that this verse is about heaven aiming at earth, not the opposite! I think we would all agree that this has always been the Father’s intention—for heaven to influence the earth, not the other way around. We see this in the prayer that Jesus gave us: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10) This perspective takes pressure off of the intercessor from having to manufacture the right words, and allows us to embrace the reality of listening prayer. Instead of spending our time wondering what to pray, we can now lean in and hear the Father’s heart, releasing that into the earth. (Isn’t this the glory of intercession, that we speak back to God what He tells us to says to Him).  

I like to say this (verse) another way, “Whatever you hear the Father say to bind, bind that on the earth. Whatever you hear the Father say to loose, loose that on the earth.”  Wasn’t this what Jesus did?  In John, Jesus would declare “Even my words are not my own but come from my Father, for he lives in me and performs his miracles of power through me” (see John 14:10, 24). His life was one of echoing the Father’s voice to a lost and orphaned people—He simply repeated what He was hearing. That was His authority!

As you pursue a life in prayer, I encourage you to take your time and listen. Slow down and allow the Lord to speak to you in the secret place—let it become your source of authority. I have learned listening in prayer to be the greatest posture of prayer—if we don’t hear, we are merely speaking our own opinions. However, as we listen and lean in, heaven’s authority to bind and loose backs us up!  

Grace and peace,

-RA