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[Historian]

Where does the idea that Saint Peter is waiting for you in front of Heaven's Gate to judge you come from?

[jimwalton]

The tradition comes from Matthew 16.19, where Jesus said to Peter, "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."

In those days, the keys of a king were often entrusted to a chief steward. He carried them in public on his shoulder as a mark of the authority entrusted to him. In the new community that Jesus was building, the church, Peter would be the chief steward. We see Peter filling this role on earth in Acts 1.15-26; 2.14-41; 10.34-48, but these things have nothing to do with heaven.

Then the second part of the verse ("whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven") is usually taken to mean that this person would have the authority to either forbid or authorize various kinds of activity. We see Peter filling this role in the church in Acts 5.1-11; 15.7-29). The "keys" of the kingdom were used, and the "power of binding and loosing) were exercised in the early church in preaching, disciple, and legislation (many places in the book of Acts, as well as 1 Cor. 5.3-5).

You'll notice from Matthew 16.19 that all the activity of Peter and the other apostles is on earth, not in heaven ("whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven")—they "bind on earth" and "
loose on earth," and their work has eternal consequences. There is no mention that Peter has any particular authority or role in heaven, and no mention of any role at the gates of heaven as a judge.