Recently my grandmother passed away. She told me more than once, "When I'm 80 I'm gonna get my hearing aid, when I'm 90 I'll get my cane, and when I'm 100 I'll get my wings." (I'm not sure of the idea of us getting "wings" in the afterlife, but I also didn't want to argue with my grandma about apocalyptic metaphysics.) Her wish was granted, and she lived to 100, passing not long after.
She didn't leave much of anything behind. She never had much money anyway, and when you live to 100 you sort of "burn through" anything you have (and a lot of what your kids have) for your care. She did leave a diary she tended faithfully for 70+ years. My mother combed through those entries and wrote a summary up for her kids and her grandkids to read and keep.
This has me thinking about inheritances and the fact that today is Ascension Day in the West and Ascension Sunday is coming up this weekend. It has me thinking about the question: "What did Jesus leave behind?"
What inheritance did Jesus leave his disciples?
When someone leaves an inheritance, there are many questions people ask. The first, of course, is "how big is it?" You're not going to show up with 10 people to hear the reading of a will of someone leaving behind 50 bucks, but you might show up with 100 people to hear the reading of a will leaving 50 million.
When the founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton, passed away, he left $190 billion in cash and assets to divvy up. Imagine that "reading of the will?" The Ambani family inheritors in India got “only” a measly $43.5 billion. One of the sons spent part of that inheritance constructing the largest private residence in the world, 27 stories tall.
Jesus, by contrast, left nothing financial, his only asset was an unseamed garment that was gambled away at the foot of the cross. Of course, he left other resources of great significance. Might we ask how big the inheritance of those who come behind Jesus receive? Matthew 16v13-20 gives us a clue:
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked 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.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
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. (NIV)
If we apply the question "how big is the inheritance Jesus left behind" then the answer is: it's a huge inheritance! Jesus tells the disciples that whey they forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven and what they permit on earth will be permitted in heaven (NLT).
Who did Jesus give this inheritance to?
There are four kinds of answers to this question:
Peter. The claim that Jesus was giving this authority to Peter alone is the primary emphasis of most Roman Catholics, who make much of the idea of Papal succession from Peter. Most of the church worldwide, including even some Catholics since Vatican II, have interpreted Jesus' words as flowing from what Peter said, not who he was... the principle matters, not the position, that the near creedal statement "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." is something to build authority on. Of course, Peter is the one who said it, and he functioned from here on out as a kind of "first among equals" for the Apostles for a reason.
The Apostles. Jesus said this to the whole group of Apostles. How do we know who the Apostles were? They didn't wear name tags, no, they didn't have jackets that say "The Apostles" either. But they are listed, over and over again as "The Twelve" (Mt. 10v1–4, Mk. 3v13–19, Lk. 6v12–16) in symbolism to the twelve tribes of Israel ushering in the new Kingdom of God Jesus announced. When Jesus said these words he entrusted them to his disciples, 12 of which were the symbolic core of the leadership, even though dozens followed him, and 120 were present (Ac. 1v15) for the very first decision the early church needed to make: replacing Judas as one of "The Twelve." One might extend this inheritance to any chosen or elected to lead the church in a similar manner.
The Church at All Times. In reality, the "keys" to bind and loose (forbid and permit) have been held by many Church councils throughout history. A key factor in this is that these council decisions then span time--they are not just making decisions for their time, but for all time, or at least that is the intent. Generally, the first "seven ecumenical councils" are followed by all Christians at all times, from Orthodox and Roman Catholic to Protestants of all kinds.
The Church in Our Time. But the keys still work. Churches still meet as boards (even locally in our communities) or with broader authority to forbid and permit, and not just decisions about the colour of the carpet in a foyer. Just this week my own broader family in the church in North America met in St. Louis to forbid and permit things as Jesus talked about in Matthew 16.
The reality is that the answer to this question likely holds a mixture of all four of these intentions. My main emphasis is that what Jesus left behind was authority, an immense authority to steward, and the short answer as to who he left it to is us.
That's the good news, what Jesus left us, is us. The church. and of course, that is also the bad news. What he left us is us. The church. For some of us, when someone says the flippant phrase, "All you have is family" we cringe because our family is so that's not really what we'd like to rely on. So saying "what he left us is the church" might rub you wrong if you've experienced a lot of dysfunctional churches. No doubt the church can be dysfunctional--like any family. And added to it is this authority Jesus gave to the church in matters that are spiritual and even eternal if you take Jesus at his word in Matthew 16.
We should, however, note that what Jesus left behind was not some institutional hierarchy with laborious rules and arcane regulations. Jesus didn't leave behind a Christian “Bureau of Motor Vehicles." Instead, he left behind a community of people who had done life with him and with each other. He trusted them. Or rather, us. He also didn't leave behind some loose network of relationships that is harder to pin down than jello to a wall. Jesus didn't leave behind some kind of Christian hippie commune where anything goes. Instead, it was a group deeply committed who had the rigorous discipline to follow "all Jesus commanded them", including radical generosity and constant witness.
They were given power and authority and so are we. That is unwieldy and potentially misused but Jesus trusted us with it still. What is the church Jesus left? When I say "Jesus left us the church" it means the community the Father called into being, centred on the events of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son, filled with the Holy Spirit for the mission he gave us.
What Jesus Didn't Leave Behind
It can be helpful to think on this front about what Jesus didn't leave.
He left no book, creed, philosophy, or system of thought. He left no fort, castle, palace, monument, temple, monastery, or cathedral. He designed no icons, symbols, or diagrams. No, Jesus left behind the church--a community, which Newbigin said was "the only hermeneutic of the gospel."
But Jesus didn't leave behind just any kind of community. We can also learn much from the kind of community Jesus didn't leave behind:
The church community was not, nor is it now, a separatist sect like the Essenes of his Day. It was not withdrawing but included public teaching of the arrival of the kingdom of God which impacts all of our cultures.
The church community was not, nor is it now, a high-minded exclusivist order like the Pharisees of his day. The way of Jesus included all.
The church community was not, nor is it now, a politically powerful philosophical party like the Sadducees of hid day, but one that eschews politics, focusing on the kingdom of God and a different kind of spiritual power instead.
Always Reforming
We might wonder, why did Jesus leave us the church, which is so problematic? But if it was enough for Jesus, perhaps it is enough for us.
Sure, I'm worried about the church’s use of that power. Are you? What do we do about that? From its early days, the church has had a slogan about itself called “semper reformanda” in Latin, or “always reforming” in English. The church should always be reforming itself, forbidding and permitting in ways that make us more like Christ, more obedient to "all that he taught us."
How do we do this? Well, it's by forming councils like mentioned above. Some principles my own family of churches use to ensure that is more effective are as follows:
Lay Parity
Engaging laypersons who are not of the ministerial profession in the accountability process helps get an outside perspective to fight against “professional group-think” on issues. Our tribe has lay-parity on boards for this reason, and at conferences like the event mentioned above. As a professional minister, there is an instinct to understand the concerns and pressures of other professionals like me. Whether I like it or not, I don’t know what it feels like to be a layperson or to be under the influence of someone in my profession. In fact, I’ve had experiences that might bias me toward thinking someone would be wrongly accused. For this reason, laypeople need to be in powerful accountability positions.
Clergy Who Are Women
A profession made up of just men will have a propensity toward protecting against the other gender. This would be true the other way around as well (although that is far less common). Ordaining women helps to break down (some of) the old boy’s club. There are other denominations that are against ordaining women, and I see their perspective but would from the outset note that they start at a disadvantage that it would be very wise to attempt to overcome in other ways. While we ordain women we do not have enough in positions of power and influence in our denomination at every level.
Middle-Judicatories
I worked for 9 years as a general church leader (national & international) but I think it’s important that we don’t have the most power at that level, and neither it is only local. Something “in-between” works better (a.k.a.: a middle-judicatory). Now, that word, “judicatory,” is a big one not used often, but it just means that somewhere in the middle there needs to be some authority over the local church.
I could continue with other modes of operating but I think the above are helpful in thinking about binding and loosing and the immense authority Jesus gave the church to steward. Your role in this is to get engaged, become a part of the process, hold leaders accountable, and use your voice. You are part of those who were given the keys... use them.
Citations and further reading:
Lesslie Newbigin. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1989.)
Elmer Colyer. The Trinitarian Dimension of John Wesley’s Theology. (New Room Books, 2019).
Craig Van Gelder. The Essence of the Church: A Community Created by the Spirit. (Baker Books, 2000).
Hans Küng. Church. (Continuum, 1967).
William H. Willimon. Bishop: The Art of Questioning Authority by an Authority in Question. (Abingdon Press, 2012.)
William J. Webb. Slaves, Women, & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis. (InterVarsity Press, 2001.)
Hendrick Kraemer. A Theology of the Laity. (Hassell Street Press, 2021).
This is one of the best articles on Pentecost I have read. Thank you David for the insight. you and us are "The hermeneutic of the gospel", we should walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph 4:1)