Jesus often taught in metaphors and parables that related to his physical surroundings. For example, he spoke of “fishers of men” when he was by the Sea of Galilee where fishermen were working, and he spoke of “sowing seeds” where that could be observed.
His physical location often had a profound, thematic relationship to his teaching. When Jesus gives Simon the name Rock, the backdrop is an enormous rock bluff:
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:13–19).
The city of Caesarea Philippi is located twenty-five miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee at the base of Mount Hermon. In a cave at the foot of the mountain is one of the largest springs feeding the Jordan River. Because springs bring fertility and new life, pagans had been leaving sacrifices to the Greek gods in that cave since the third century B.C. At the time of Jesus, Caesarea Philippi was a cultural and political center known for its pagan worship.
Don’t Panic
The modern name of the city is Banias, an Arab form of the earlier name Panias, which was derived from Pan, the Greek god of nature, fertility, shepherds, and sheep. Pan was depicted as a merry, ugly man with the horns, ears, and legs of a goat. He liked to frighten unwary travelers, which is where we got the word panic. Pan was supposed to make flocks fertile; when he did not, his image was flogged to stimulate him.
Just to the right of the cave are five niches hewn out of the rock wall. These likely held statues of other gods whose names are etched in Greek, including Echo and Hermes. In one myth, Pan ripped the wood nymph Echo to pieces because she rejected his sexual advances. All that was left of her was her voice, which is where we get the word echo. Hermes, Pan’s father, was the messenger of the gods, often portrayed with wings on his feet. He was also the god who escorted souls to Hades.
The Greeks were not the only pagans to worship in the area of Caesarea Philippi; there also are some fourteen temples of ancient Syrian Baal worship. During the period of Israel’s Judges, God punished the Jews for refusing to destroy the altars erected to the Baals, the gods of Israel’s conquered nations. One of these nations was the “Hivites who dwelt on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon as far as the entrance of Hamath” (Judg. 3:3).
Hail, Caesar!
In addition to Greek and Syrian pagan worship, Caesarea Philippi bore the imprint of Rome’s civic religion. Twenty years before the birth of Jesus, Caesar Augustus gave the city of Panias to King Herod, who, as a sign of gratitude, built a temple of white marble to the emperor. About the time of Jesus’ birth, Herod the Great’s son Philip named the city Caesarea Philippi. Philip chose Caesarea Philippi to be the territory’s capital. Herod Agrippa later renamed the city Neroneas in honor of the emperor Nero.
Mount Hermon, located just outside of Caesarea Philippi, is significant to the Jewish people. First, as mentioned above, there are several references to it in the Old Testament (e.g., Judg. 3:3; Josh. 11:17; 1 Chr. 5:23). In the story of Israel’s defeat of the northern kings, it is mentioned as one of the places conquered by the Jews:
“So Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland from Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. And he took all their kings, and smote them, and put them to death” (Josh. 11:16–17).
A Place Set Apart
The other significant feature of the mountain is that it was once one of the four main sources feeding the Jordan River. The mountain’s cave is the Jordan’s easternmost source. Because of its connection to the Jordan, the mountain and the cave had profound religious significance to the Jewish people. Hermon is Hebrew for “the mountain set apart.” It was regarded as a very holy mountain.
What Jesus says in Matthew 16:13–19 about the Church and the place of Peter is amplified by the religious history surrounding him, and his words draw much of their force from this setting. When Jesus asks the apostles, “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” he does it in a place with religious significance for Jews and Syrian and Greek pagans and political-religious significance for Romans.
Here, in this place of religious plurality, Jesus poses the question about his identity. Our Lord’s question and Peter’s response signify Christ’s claim on all worshipers of God. In this place where many sought divinity, the Holy Spirit reveals through Peter the One worthy of worship, Jesus Christ. Jesus confronts all the religious claims of history in all of their glory and majesty, and then he claims for himself the sole, true object of worship.
Mount Hermon serves as a symbol of the Church—and in particular the Church’s relationship to the world. It is Israel’s highest mountain, reflecting the stature and role of the Church in the world as towering over other religions, kingdoms, and nations in authority. It communicates the eternal, immovable, and indefectible nature of the Church.
Scripture calls Christians to transform the world but not be of the world (cf. John 8:23). Christians are called to be set apart (cf. John 17:17), and Mount Hermon means “mountain set apart”:
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:14–16).
This theme is reflected in the Petrine discourse in Matthew 16.
It is fitting that Jesus used this mountain to communicate the nature of his Church. Not only was it distinct among other mountains in the region, but it was also a place of worship for the religions of the time. As the mountain was the center of worship for the ancients, the Church is the center of worship for Christians.
Water of Life
The topography of the mountain is also symbolic. To the Greek pagans, Mount Hermon’s cave was a source of fertility and life. For Christians, the Church is the source of baptism and all other graces needed for eternal life (cf. John 3:3; 1 Pet. 3:21). For the pagans, the cave was an entrance to the underworld; for the Christian, the Church is the entrance to heaven.
But the most obvious symbolism of the location is rock. “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). The 100-foot-tall, 500-foot-long rock face of Mount Hermon is an awesome backdrop for Jesus’ revelation that he will build the Church on the rock of Peter.
Because of its sheer size and permanence, Mount Hermon served as a permanent, geographic focal point where the pagans congregated for their religious services. In establishing Peter as the kepha(rock) for his Church with Mount Hermon in the background, the mountain’s stability and durability reflects on Peter, especially in light of our Lord’s subsequent promise that “the powers of death shall not prevail against it.”
Mount Hermon and Caesarea Philippi shed new light on the great and glorious truths of the nature of Christ’s Church and the role of the papacy.