JESUS TAKES HIS DISCIPLES TO CAESAREA PHILIPPI

MATTHEW 16:13–28

Some biblical events amaze us because of their uniqueness. Jesus’s time with the disciples in the region of Caesarea Philippi30 is just such a moment (Matt. 16:13–20; Mark 8:27–30). Here Jesus further defined his messianic mission to overthrow the works of the adversary. All of this occurred in the region of Caesarea Philippi for a reason.

The trip to the region of Caesarea Philippi was a continuation of the extended experience that had taken Jesus and the disciples north into the region of Tyre and Sidon (Matt. 15:21) and east to the region of the Decapolis (Mark 7:31). Jesus took his followers to the area of Caesarea Philippi and asked two questions: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” and “Who do you say I am?” (Matt. 16:13, 15). From the collage of popular options, Jesus identified Peter’s answer as the accurate one and then proceeded to use the setting of the exchange to show why.

Three qualities of this location seem particularly meaningful with regard to Jesus’s proclamation. Caesarea Philippi was a place of idolatry, the entrance into Hades, and a region associated with political control. Since Mount Hermon (9,232 feet) rises as the dramatic backdrop for Caesarea Philippi, we might expect this spot to sprout worship centers associated with idols. So it was with Caesarea Philippi, which boasted a worship area dedicated to the Greek idol Pan that shared ground with a marble temple dedicated to the worship of Augustus.31 It was also here that a large, yawning cave was popularly perceived to be the gateway into Hades.32 In addition to being a place of idolatry, the region of Caesarea Philippi was also a hub from which to exercise political control into Asia, Africa, and Europe. The extraordinary mass of Mount Hermon blocks and channels international traffic along its lower flanks. Wherever geography limits travel options, political control may be exercised. That was clearly the case with Caesarea Philippi.33

Niche carved into the bedrock facade of Caesarea Philippi to house an image of the idol Pan.

When Jesus asked who people thought he was, Peter responded with what has often been called the great confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). Note the visual surroundings of the setting. In contrast to all other claimants, mortal or mythical, Jesus could stand in the shadow of ostentatious idolatry and acknowledge that he alone was the Christ, God’s Anointed and King of Kings. He affirmed Peter’s confession. Also on that rocky facade on which the temple of Pan and entrance into Hades were located, Jesus declared that the community of his disciples would overthrow the present idolatry and the gates of Hades would not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18).

Jesus took his disciples to Caesarea Philippi for a reason. As Jesus revealed more about his true identity, he spoke of the overthrow of political control associated with Caesarea Philippi. Many Jews of Jesus’s day were awaiting a Davidic king who would lead Israel in battle and throw off the oppressive Roman occupation of the Promised Land.34 They viewed the Roman occupation as synonymous with the kingdom of evil. Jesus, however, had come to overthrow not just the symptom of evil (that is, the Roman occupation) but its cause, the adversary (Satan). So Jesus went to Caesarea Philippi to announce that the Kingdom of God would overthrow the adversary and all his mortal allies. There was not a question about the outcome of the war, for not even the gates of Hades would withstand the victory in the making.

The Romans considered this cave at the base of the bedrock escarpment to be an entrance into Hades.

The region of Caesarea Philippi (view looking north).

Mount Hermon and Caesarea Philippi