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Dear friend,
Yes, the Pope is Christ's vicar.
Jesus is the one who said to Simon
Peter alone,
". . . to you I give
the keys to the kingdom of Heaven,
whatever you bind on earth shall
be bound in Heaven, whatever you
loose on Earth shall be loosed in
Heaven."
(Matthew 16:13-19) |
You may
note that in Matthew 18 he addressed
the rest of the Apostles in a similar
manner, but Christ entrusted the
keys to Peter alone.
To understand the significance of
this you must read Isaiah 22:15-25 which says:
15 Thus
says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come,
go to this steward, to Shebna,
who is over the household, and
say to him: 16 What
have you to do here and whom have
you here, that you have hewn here
a tomb for yourself, you who hew
a tomb on the height, and carve
a habitation for yourself in the
rock? 17 Behold,
the Lord will hurl you away violently,
O you strong man. He will seize
firm hold on you, 18 and
whirl you round and round, and
throw you like a ball into a wide
land; there you shall die, and
there shall be your splendid chariots,
you shame of your master's
house. 19 I
will thrust you from your office,
and you will be cast down from
your station. 20 In
that day I will call my servant
Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and
I will clothe him with your robe,
and will bind your girdle on him,
and will commit your authority
to his hand; and he shall be a
father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place
on his shoulder the key of the
house of David; he shall open,
and none shall shut; and he shall
shut, and none shall open. 23 And
I will fasten him like a peg in
a sure place, and he will become
a throne of honor to his father's
house. 24 And they
will hang on him the whole weight
of his father's house, the
offspring and issue, every small
vessel, from the cups to all the
flagons. 25 In
that day, says the Lord of hosts,
the peg that was fastened in a
sure place will give way; and
it will be cut down and fall,
and the burden that was upon it
will be cut off, for the Lord
has spoken.”
Isaiah 22:15-25 |
This is where Jesus borrowed the
essential context and phraseology.
Note especially verse 22.
In the Old Testament, God established
within the kingdom of David, ministers,
who wield the authority to run
the kingdom. Amongst them, was in
effect a "prime" minister,
Shebna, who was corrupt. God replaced
him with Eliakim.
19 I will thrust you from your
office, and pull you down from
your station.
Isaiah 22:19 |
This particular phrase is important
because it tells us that the "office" transcended
the individuals. Likewise, Peter's
office transcends the man and continues
in succession.
So in summary, the Old Covenant had
to do with the Davidic Kingdom: in
the New Covenant,
the kingdom of Heaven is larger,
more universal ("Catholic" means universal)
and the keys belong to the "prime" minister
or the one who succeeds the "rock".
Since God is the Ultimate Rock who
holds all keys, the one He entrusts
on earth to uphold that authority
down here would be known as his Vicar.
Hope that clarifies it for you.
Peace,
Bob K.
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