The Lord speaks through Isaiah that Shebna, an unfaithful and rebellious leader shall be deposed and that Eliakim, a faithful servant of God will be given the key of the house of David.
The Gospel today shows Our Lord doing the same thing. By mentioning the keys he is evoking the memory of Shebna and Eliakim, teaching us that the unjust and faithless are not fit to lead.
While most see in this passage the establishment of Peter as the Rock and chief of the apostles - which is certainly here - we can find more. In fact, the ancient prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in at least three ways as we listen and follow Christ’s words.
FIRST: the “ruler of this world”, i.e. Satan, is overthrown by Christ in His Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. No longer is humanity forced to live under the tyranny of Satan’s power, of sin and death. Christ, the faithful Son of the Father now reigns in His kingdom of light.
SECOND: the faithless rulers of Israel: the political rulers, the pharisees, the corrupted temple priesthood - were deposed by Christ, who embodied the kingdom of Israel and, in establishing the New Israel - the Church - appointed Peter to hold the keys, which in the history of Israel appoints him as master of the palace, who rules for the king while he is away.
THIRD: today’s Gospel calls us to examine the kingdom of our own hearts and ask: who or what do I allow to rule over me? If the answer is any other answer than Jesus Christ, what we must do is clear: we must take every action required to immediately depose whatever rules us and hand the keys over to the God who loves us, to our Savior, Jesus Christ.
How great, writes St. Paul, is the wisdom of God. How true this is! For he has shown us today the way of salvation and given us the tools we need to follow him on that way.