Saturday, October 15
Caesarea Philippi
We also visited Caesarea Philippi. It is where Peter proclaimed that Jesus is the Messiah, and where Jesus said that “on this rock I will build my kingdom and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)
“Caesarea Philippi” sounds so neutral - just another Roman city named for a local Roman ruler. In truth, this was a temple to the god Pan as well as a host of minor deities, and a site of sexual and other excesses.
Here’s what the site likely looked like in the time of Jesus:
So when Jesus said, “the gates of hell will not prevail against it,” he was probably referring to THESE gates - where the worship of false gods took place, accompanied by all of the sins one can imagine!
