{"id":5231,"date":"2019-02-01T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T00:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=5231"},"modified":"2021-10-15T16:45:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T08:45:00","slug":"217-caesarea-philippi-he-set-his-face-to-go-to-jerusalem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=5231","title":{"rendered":"217. Caesarea Philippi: He Set His Face to Go to Jerusalem"},"content":{"rendered":"

51\u00a0<\/sup>When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.\u00a052\u00a0<\/sup>And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him;\u00a053\u00a0<\/sup>but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.\u00a054\u00a0<\/sup>When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, \u201cLord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?\u201d 55\u00a0<\/sup>But he turned and rebuked them.\u00a056\u00a0<\/sup>Then they went on to another villag<\/span>e<\/strong>. [Luke 9:51-56<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(L) Greco-Roman times, Caesarea Philippi; (R) James\u00a0Tissot, Jesus Goes up to Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Caesarea Philippi is literally \u201cPhilip<\/a>\u2019s Caesarea\u201d, Philip being the half-brother of Herod Agrippa. Now nearly uninhabited, Caesarea is an archaeological site in the\u00a0Golan Heights<\/a>. In passing, we ought to mention that as a\u00a0geopolitical<\/a>\u00a0region, the Golan Heights is the area captured from Syria and occupied by Israel during the\u00a01967 Six-Day War<\/a>, a territory which Israel effectively annexed in 1981. This region includes the western two-thirds of the geological Golan Heights, as well as the Israeli-occupied part of Mount Hermon. Our half-day trip to the region of the Golan Heights was for the most part a waste of time, unless anybody was actually interested in learning about wars in the region, or in enjoying the view of a forlorn wasteland dotted by rusted tanks. A lone Arab fruit vendor capitalized on a rare opportunity to fleece tourists, charging one American dollar for a banana.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back to Caesarea Philippi, it was originally called Paneas, but later changed to Caesarea Paneas, from the\u00a0Hellenistic period<\/a>\u00a0after its association with the god Pan, a name that mutated to\u00a0Banias<\/a>. During the Greco-Roman times, Caesarea Philippi was a city located near the ancient city of Dan, in the northern part of Israel, by Mount Hermon and the Jordan River.<\/span><\/p>\n

Where the Banias stream leads to the cliff area, we find a very unique place. We see a rocky face that rises 100 feet and runs 500 feet wide, with a foreboding cave in the middle where temple ruins lie strewn about. It was here that Herod the Great built the Temple of Augustus (Augusteum) in 19 B.C. to honor his Caesar. The temple sat in front of the cave that was believed to be the gateway to the underworld, and that was where the Greek god Pan was supposed to live.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of the three temples Herod constructed in Israel to honor Caesar Augustus, he willed this temple at Caesarea Philippi and the whole region to his younger son Philip when he died in 4 B.C.. Philip then built this city up to be his capital and to honor his Caesar, Tiberius.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact is, the entire area was identified as a sin city, so much so that rabbis forbade a good Jew to come here.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Jewish historian, Josephus, has records of the location. He refers to the cave as dark, descending abruptly to a great depth, and containing a mighty quantity of water, which is immovable. Interestingly, he points out that \u201cthe fountains of Jordan rise at the roots of this cavity outwardly; and, as some think, this is the utmost origin of Jordan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, while Caesarea Philippi is a site of archeological importance, visitors are usually led to the Banias Nature Reserve, which really is of no relevance to a Holy Land Pilgrimage, except for the fact that at the edge of the nature reserve is the archeological ruins of the temple and the cave we have just referred to.\u00a0Our half day trip to this nature reserve was to that extent a waste of time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflection<\/u><\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Our interest in Caesarea Philippi, then, lies in its Gospel association (Matthew 16:13-20<\/a>,\u00a0Mark 8:27\u201330<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Luke 9:18\u201320<\/a>), concerning which three points stand out for us.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Jesus\u2019 Identity Revealed at Caesarea Philippi<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In the\u00a0Synoptic Gospels<\/a>,\u00a0towards the end of his three-year public ministry as an itinerant preacher around Galilee, Jesus<\/a>\u00a0went north to the area near the city of Caesarea Philippi, but without entering the city itself. What happened here marked the turning point in the Gospel narratives. Jesus, while in this area, asked his closest disciples who they thought he was. In the Gospel of Mark, Peter confessed Jesus as \u201cthe Christ\u201d which is Messiah in Jewish (Mark 8:29), to which Matthew added \u201cthe Son of the living God\u201d (Matthew 16:16).<\/span><\/p>\n

This proclamation of Jesus as Christ at Caesarea Philippi is fundamental to\u00a0Christology<\/a>. Peter\u2019s Confession and Jesus\u2019 acceptance of the title \u201cMessiah\u201d form a definitive statement in the New Testament narrative regarding the identity of Jesus Christ.\u00a0In this narrative, Jesus not only accepts the titles \u201cChrist<\/em>\u201d and\u00a0\u201cSon of God<\/a><\/em>\u201d, but declares the proclamation a divine revelation and that his\u00a0Father in Heaven<\/a>\u00a0had revealed it to Peter. What we have in the Gospels, therefore, is an unequivocal declaration by Jesus himself to be both Christ and the Son of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

So important is this revelation for Matthew, that the evangelist spot-lights a charge which Jesus gave to Peter:<\/span><\/p>\n