You are the Son of God

Daily Thoughts – September 4^th  

On our trip to Israel we walked where Jesus walked.  This took us to incredible places like Caesarea Maritima, Mount Carmel, Nazareth, Megiddo, Tiberius, Sea of Galilee (boat trip across the Sea), Capernaum, Mount of Beatitudes, Golan Heights, Caesarea Philippi, Yardinet (baptism in river Jordan), Beth Shean, Qumran, Dead Sea, Masada, Ein Gedi, Jericho, Bethlahem, and of course Jerusalem (including: Herod’s Fortress, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Mount of Olives, Pool of Bethesda, Garden of Gethsemane, Western Wall, Southern Temple mount, Via Dolorosa, Upper Room, Golgatha, and Garden Tomb).  Along this path there are so many things that come to life as you see the bible becoming real before your eyes.

It’s difficult to state which of these were the most inspirational, but certainly for me, Caesarea Philippi is among the top 5.  As context, this is where Jesus and the disciples traveled to in the far North East of Israel, near the Syrian border, in the area of the ancient city of Dan, by Mount Hermon.  The area is often referred to as the gateways to Hell because of human and animal sacrifices made by the Hellenistic pagans to the Greek god Pan, the god of goats, sex, bestiality and lust.  Herod later built a temple here to honor Caesar, and willed the region to his younger son Philip, hence the name Caesarea Philippi. Most Rabbi’s forbid good Jewish people from coming here, because of the wicked, sinful, and evil actions that took place here.  Yet, Jesus traversed the steep cliffs and desert lands to come to this location with His disciples, as captured in Mark and in Matthew.

You are the Son of God

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” – Matthew 16:13-17 (in context)

So, why would Jesus come to this location to reveal His true identity to His disciples?
We read through the scriptures of the Satan’s temptation of Jesus after His baptism by John, in the river Jordan.  The Son of God went face to face with the evil of this world.  Satan enticed Him to give up on God’s mission and to take on the authority of this world.  And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” – Matthew 4:9  Jesus denied Satan and held firm to His purpose from God the Father.  The area referred to as Caesarea Philippi, was previously known as Panias, and was seen as the center of evil in the world.  So, in some way Jesus came to this place, to declare in front of His followers, and the evil Satan, “I am the Messiah, the Son of God.”

This was Jesus final trip through Galilee before going on to Jerusalem for His final week.  He very well knew what lie ahead and knew very clearly the battle with Satan the ensued.  Through His statement to Peter, “…this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven” clearly established His authority, and His next statement set the expectation for what was to come.  Do you remember what He said next?

“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”  - Matthew 16:21 
Peter refused to accept this prophesy though, and what did Jesus tell him?
“But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are ^[d]an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” – vs. 23

He wasn’t calling Peter – Satan, but rather He knew Satan was present through Peter and was once again trying to tempt Jesus to resist completing His purpose. 

As we toured through Tel Dan, Panias, Caesarea Philippi – I was emotionally charged in my spiritual walk.  Looking into the abyss of the bottomless sacrificial offering cave from millenniums ago, I couldn’t help but feel anguish for the acts of sacrifice and the sexual perversion that was accepted as a normal way to pray to god.  I relate it to the world we see around us today.  The mass killing of unborn children, the self-centeredness of the majority of our society, the evil that surrounds us in every part of our daily walk, and the attempt of Satan to once again convince the world that Jesus isn’t who He claims to be. 

Jesus has promised to come back again, and Satan knows this.  He is trying to distract us from this reality by focusing our attention on the pleasures of this world, just as He did with Christ.  On our own, we are no match for Satan’s temptations, but through Christ we are more than conquerors.  This is the time to put on the armor of God and to stand strong against the world, and once again acknowledge who Christ is – “The Messiah, the Son of the Living God” 






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