Baptismal meditation

Isaiah 22:22: The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.

One steward of the Davidic house falls, and another takes his place. Yahweh elevates Eliakim – whose name means “God raises up” – to be steward of the house of David. He has the authority of the keys, the authority to open and shut doors, to let people in and to keep people out.

In this, of course, Eliakim is a type of Jesus Christ, the Son of David and the steward of the Davidic house. Jesus is the Doorman who opens the door. He’s the Bouncer at the door who admits to and excludes people from His party.

Jesus shares that authority with His church. He gave Peter the keys of the kingdom, and as a result Peter, as chief representative of the apostolate, is authorized to open and shut doors. That is not Peter’s authority alone, and it is certainly not passed down, as Catholics believe, in an unbroken line from Peter to Benedict XVI. It is given to the apostles, and from there to the church, to be exercised by the church to the end of time.

Baptism is one of these keys. Jesus the house-steward says “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them.” Jesus the House-steward opens the door to children, and thereby authorizes the church to admit children to His house. Baptism is the watery key that brings your daughter into the feast of joy.

There is another even more profound dimension to this. When John first sees Jesus at the beginning of Revelation, Jesus tells John that He has not only the keys of David, but the key to Hades and Death. Jesus died, but He has come back to life, and when He came back to live forever, He brought the keys with Him. Once the devil had power over death, but now Jesus does. He can lock people in the grave and keep them there; He can chain the Serpent in the abyss as long as He likes. He also has the authority to throw open the grave and release the prisoners, which He has done and will do.

Of this too baptism is the sign. To this door too baptism is the key. Jesus not only admits the baptized to the house of David, but also promises to rescue them from the house of Death. This is the promise made to your daughter today; this is the key Jesus shares with her. Teach her to keep this key with her, and always to look to Jesus, the Greater Eliakim, to open every door and to release her finally from Death and from Hades.