Catholic view of the Pope: Prime Minister NOT King

To clarify something, the Catholic view of the Papacy is akin to the Davidic kingdom.

When Jesus renames Peter and gives him the keys to the kingdom, this is a call back to the Old Testament, where God takes the keys of the Davidic kingdom from a wicked steward/prime minister and gives them to Eliakim and whatever he shuts will be shut and whatever he opens will be open.

The prime minister or steward is not the King. He is a minister trusted to handle the King’s affairs and property. Like how a store has an owner and there’s a general manager who works for the store.

So if a King goes out of town, it’s basically like “hey prime minister/steward, take care of my affairs while I’m gone.”

Christ is the son of David, He is the Davidic King. The Pope is taken to be like Eliakim, a prime minister acting in Christ’s stead, but not the true King.

This is not an argument for the Papacy. Just a clarification that we do not view the Pope as Christ, and the Biblical analogy we would take to his role in Christ’s Church.