What is the significance of Caesarea Philippi in the Bible?

Ver. 13: Caesarea Philippi was the extreme north of Palestine. It was an important city, but it is its position that gives its significance here. It was on the confines of Israel, and the Lord was going to bring out His church, here revealed for the first time; and the church is not confined t0 Israel. As the rejected One of Israel, He now tells us that He will build a previously unheard of thing, "His church." And this began at Pentecost. It is not composed of Jews only, but of Jews and Gentiles, baptized into one body by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.

We find the Lord and His disciples in Caesarea-Philippi, and there He asks His disciples what men say concerning Himself. After the disciples had answered He turns to them with the same question and Simon Peter gives that wonderful answer upon which the Lord announces the fact of the future building of His church, as well as His coming suffering, death and resurrection. Before we begin the study of these events in detail we wish to say that only in Matthew do we find the full answer to Peter's confession and the fact brought out that the Lord is to have a church. The other Gospel records do not mention these words at all. The Holy Spirit put them here in this dispensational Gospel because there it is where they belong. He, as the writer of this Gospel, is like a goldsmith who has numerous precious stones and pearls, each a costly gem in itself, and forms them in a perfect chain. He arranges all in His divine order, in perfect beauty, to work out and show forth the perfection and worth of the Lord. And so He put the events before us into the very heart of the Gospel of the King.

"But when Jesus was come into the parts of Caesarea-Philippi, He demanded of His disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am? And they said, Some, John the Baptist; and others Elias; and others, again, Jeremias, or one of the prophets" (verses 14, 15).

It is significant that this takes place in Caesarea-Philippi. It is on Gentile ground, so to speak, where it happens and where on the one hand it is demonstrated once more that His own had not received Him; and on the other, He is truly confessed and His revelation concerning the church is made known.

At Caesarea Philippi, the remotest corner of the land, Christ's assembly to replace Israel on earth is first brought before the disciples; but the truth concerning Himself takes precedence. The Lord gave Himself the name of the Son of man; and in that very character He will return and take all the world to reign over it. Peter confesses Him as the Son of God, which drew out His statement, "I also say to thee, that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church" (or, assembly). Thus the soul must be in the light as to Christ before the church can be a seasonable truth. The Father in this scene gives fresh knowledge of the Son's glory; and the Christian like Peter, instead of being limited to believing Israel's faith, confesses Him as the Son of the living God. It is not what He became, what He will display or what He might do, but what He is in His intrinsic and eternal title, the Son of the living God. It is His proper dignity and personal relation in the Godhead.

It is significant that in our chapter the Lord's warning against both comes just before the record of His visit to Caesarea Philippi, and of the question He raised with His disciples there. In this place He was at the extreme northward limit of the land, and as far away from the haunts of these men as possible. Who was He? That was the supreme question. The answers given by the people were various and confused, and they were not sufficiently interested to make sober enquiry. But appealing more directly to His disciples Peter was able, as taught of God, to give a clear reply, which brought to light the Rock on which the church was to be built. Colossians 2 show us how destructive is the leaven, both of the Pharisee and the Sadducee, upon the church's position and faith. In Matthew 16 we see how the Lord warned His disciples against both, before making the first announcement of the church that He was going to build.

The former name of this city was Panium, but Herod Philip, the tetrarch, enlarged it and named it after Caesar and himself. It is situated in the north of Palestine, near one of the sources of the Jordan. The Lord visited the villages in its district. Matt. 16:13; Mark 8:27. It is now called Banias, 33 15' N, 35 41' E, a small village, with the remains of an ancient castle and other ruins, amid beautiful scenery.

Turn now, my reader, to Matthew 16. After this noble confession of Peter's which we have been considering, the Lord had gone up to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and there had blessed the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman. Then he had gone to Galilee and Decapolis, and northward to Caesarea Philippi. This place must not be confounded with the Caesarea on the borders of the Mediterranean, the Roman seaport capital of Palestine, where Peter preached so successfully afterwards (see Acts 10). Caesarea Philippi — now known as Baneas — was a town outside the limits of the land of Israel, situated at the foot of Mount Hermon, close to the most easterly source of the river Jordan.

The Lord had gone out, on to Gentile ground. In this outside place, He asks His disciples, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" Jesus likes to know what men think of Him; whether the hearts of men had risen to the moment, and the occasion; if they had found out who He was — and so He puts the question. And they answer, "Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets." This was only supremely careless indifference. Men might have known, and should. Eighteen months before, John the Baptist had declared who He was, and crowds had flocked to Him; but now, after these many months, — in which He had visited "every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God" (Luke 8:1), months of unwearied testimony by lip, life, and miracle, that had proclaimed God, blessed man, and defeated Satan, — the tide had turned, and instead of receiving Him as the Messiah, they did not even know, or care to know, who He was! Alas, for poor, blind man!

Leaving the Sea of Galilee, the Lord journeyed with His disciples to the coasts of Caesarea Philippi. There, in that place of Gentile influence and display — for there Herod the Great had built a royal city in honour of the Emperor — He proposed to them the two great questions which laid bare the hearts of the men of that generation, and the heart of every man and woman since: —

The Lord Jesus has taken His disciples away from the hustle and bustle of Galilee, He had taken them far away from the religious hypocrisy of Jerusalem and Judea; they had gone to Caesarea Philippi. This town was at the very northern extremity of Israel . At Caesarea Philippi, an area of peace and solitude, He talks to the disciples about serious issues. This one is fundamental. Who is He?

He probes his disciples, He wants them to express their understanding of who He is, but first He asks them what others say about Him.

The blind man, when cured, was not to go into the town nor testify to any in the town; moreover the Lord Himself now withdrew with His disciples to Caesarea Philippi, the most northerly town within the confines of the land, and very near the Gentile border. Clearly He was beginning to withdraw Himself and the testimony to His Messiahship from the blind people and their yet more blinded leaders. Here He raised the question with His disciples as to who He was. The people hazarded differing guesses, but all imagined Him to be some old prophet revived, just a man, and none had sufficient interest to really find out.

Going on His way towards the mount of transfiguration — as the goal of His journey — He entered the villages of Caesarea Philippi, situated under the shadow of Mount Hermon. As was usual, many followed — not disciples only (8:34). From the Twelve, the Lord asks what are the thoughts of men about Him. None really understood who He was. It brings in evidence that man, unaided by revelation, could have no right thoughts about the Lord's person. Then He drew forth from Peter what the disciples held Him to be. As taught of God, Peter confesses Him to be "the Christ," or Anointed One of God.