[New Advent Catholic Supersite]

Revelation 3:7 proves Christ is the one who holds the key of David, not
Peter. Isaiah 22 prophesies Christ's coming and his authority rather than
Peter's. Matthew 16:18 has nothing to do with either.

As the royal son of David, Christ is the owner of the key of David, but
this doesn't mean he can't give it to Peter, as his "prime minister," the
keys to his heavenly kingdom.

In the passage to which Revelation 3:7 alludes, Isaiah 22:20-23, Eliakim is
made master of the palace, a post roughly equivalent to prime minister. As
the king's right-hand man, the master of the palace is given the "key of
the House of David."

Keys symbolize authority, so bestowing the key to the House of David upon
Eliakim is equivalent to giving him, as the king's duly appointed
representative, authority over the kingdom.

Revelation 3:7 speaks of Jesus as "the holder of the key of David." Some
argue this means he fulfills the role Eliakim foreshadowed in Isaiah
22:20-23. They claim this excludes a prophetic application of this text to
Peter by Christ in Matthew 16:18-19.

There's a problem with this argument. In Isaiah 22 Eliakim is master of the
palace--the king isn't. Eliakim possesses the key of the kingdom not as its
owner, but as one deputed to oversee the king's affairs. If we apply this
to Christ, Then we must conclude he's not the true messianic king, merely
his prime minister, the Messiah's chief representative!

Although Jesus is called the "holder of the key of David" in Revelation
3:7, he doesn't hold it as Eliakim did. As the son of David, Jesus is the
heir to the throne of his ancestor (Luke 1:32-33). He really is the king,
not the master of the king's palace, as was Eliakim. As king, Jesus is free
to bestow the keys of his kingdom on whomever he wishes--without losing the
authority those keys represent.

It's the Catholic position that this is precisely what Jesus does in
Matthew 16:18-19. Peter identifies Jesus as the Messiah, which means, among
other things, acknowledging his kingship. Christ then shows his kingly
authority by bestowing on Peter something only the king could give--the
keys of the kingdom of heaven--thus making Peter the messianic equivalent
of Eliakim.

Copyright © 1991 Catholic Answers. Reprinted with permission from the
August 1991 issue of This Rock magazine.

[New Advent Catholic Supersite]