27 And Jesus went on with his disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”
After the healing of the blind man at Beth-saida, Jesus takes his disciples thirty miles north to Caesarea Philippi. This is a ten hour hike, for apparently no purpose at all except to ask a question on the way. Caesarea Philipipi is no insignificant place. Firstly lets start from Jesus’ time and move backward.
It’s name in the Gospels was its name at that time, it was called Caesarea in honor of Caesar Augustus but Philip the Tetrarch wanted to distinguish it from Caesarea Maritima on the coast so he added his own name to it. Herod the Great, father of Philip built a large temple in honor of Caesar there as well. About three hundred years before this, after Alexander the Greats Hellenistic conquest of the region it became the major centre of cultic worship of the Greek god Pan and was named “Paneas” after the deity. There was a large cave there known as the Grotto of Pan and was believed to be the entrance to the underworld. Now that’s usually where scholars stop, because do we need to go any further? The answer is yes, yes we do.
Before the Hellenistic conquest, this region, especially Mount Hermon which the city was at the foot of was the centre of Ba’al worship. That Ba’al mentioned in your Old Testament. Ba’al means Lord or Husband and became the term we use for the Evil One hence Beelzebub. The Canaanites storm riding, sea chaos defeating, divine king “Ba’al” was basically Marduk of ancient Babylon. A prince of the air, if you will. But the ancient Hebrews did not see it that way, they believed something about this place, especially Mount Hermon that puts all of this in to a fantastic backdrop for the starting of the New Covenant.
If you ask a Christian when did all the bad stuff start, when was the “fall” they would tell you about our first parents, Adam and Eve. They’re right to say that but if you asked an ancient Hebrew they would ask you back “Which fall?” Because to them, there was more than one. The Fall in Eden was terrible but another Fall came after that preoccupied Hebrew thought all the way to the Second Temple Period and definitely occupied the minds of the New Testament Authors and therefore early Christians.
The second big fall was that of the “Son’s of God” who left their domain and did some illicit activity with human women, I am not going to say what, not because I’m squeamish but because I truly do not believe we will ever fully comprehend what this infringement was. The Bible only gives us Genesis 6:1-4 to explain. Either way, God put them in prison until the Day of Judgement for it. According to Hebrew Tradition, that exact location of that Fall was Mount Hermon. This is where our fallen nature from the first fall was twisted and mutilated even further by the “Sons of God”, rebels against the divine plan.
This is the backdrop of this scene, it is WAY bigger than most people realise. Jesus then asks them a simple question “Who do people say I am?” Mark is summarising the exact phrasing but I think looking at the exact phrasing is important for this to make sense. “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” writes Saint Matthew. This is a messianic title, initially just meaning a man but in the revelations given to the Prophet Daniel we understand the Son of Man to be the Messiah, the one who will come to fix basically everything and he will be Divine.
We understand that there were two falls, the first in Eden and the second on Mount Hermon. What do you think “Son of Man” is in Hebrew? Ben Adam. The Phrase Son of Man can also be read as the New Adam. He is going to fix the first fall by being the New Adam and is going to fix then second by founding his New Covenant family on top of the location of it. Literally conquering it. He proposes the question so the Leader of the Apostles has his chance to lay the first brick of the Church,.
28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others one of the prophets.”
The disciples respond with the presumptions of others, those that are listed out by Herod Antipas’ court. So this seems to be the dominant opinion by “the people”. Some think he is the resurrected John the Baptist, some think Elijah. There was a particular expectation of the Prophet Elijah as he was prophesied to arrive as a forerunner to the Messiah in the Old Testament. Other Prophets are also considered as being the true identity of Jesus.
29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”
He now directs the question specifically at them, he wants to know who they think he is. Only Peter answers, the Leader of the Apostles and he answers “You are the Christ.” That is the Anointed One, that’s what Christos in Greek means. Those who are anointed are kings, priests and prophets. This lets us know that although all those offices were anointed there was a type of Messianic labelling as the definite article “The” is being used. He is The Anointed One, as in the Messiah, the Son of Man seen by the Prophet Daniel in a heavenly vision. Not just any particular King, Priest or Prophet but a preeminent one.
30 And he charged them to tell no one about him.
He tells them to keep the Messianic secret, this is so all things play out exactly as God ordained. It might sound silly but I can’t help but see some of what Jesus does as a divine version of Secret Boss. To see exactly how his people act without them knowing they are being tested.
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
The Prophet Daniel when he receives the Messianic Timeline from the Angel Gabriel discovers that the Messiah in the final week will be “Cut off”. This is a Hebraism that means be killed. Something that obviously perplexed many Jews for along time (and still does to be honest). Jesus explains what this entails but Mark only summarises for us. Jesus must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes and be killed. The “Head” of the Old Covenant Ekklesia will reject him, to use naturalistic imagery and will kill him but after three days he will rise. He will conquer Death, which entered the world through the first Fall and made worse in the Second Fall. He says all of this at the perceived Gates of Hell at the foot of Mount Hermon.
32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
Summarising for us again, Mark tells his audience that Jesus said this all plainly, meaning he said it so it could not be misunderstood. Peter takes issue with this, not wanting to see his Master die and attempts to rebuke Jesus. Right after his confession of faith. It’s understandable from an emotional point of view why Peter does this but our emotions are not as ordered as we think they are and can become an adversary to the plan God has.
33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.”
Jesus turns to the others, as if for his gaze to convert their doubts that might be growing in the face of Peter’s rebellious attitude and rebukes Peter in front of them. He tells him to “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.” This phrase for some reason always gets anti-catholic people excited but that’s because they do not understand what any of these words mean.
Satan was not a common proper noun for the evil one in this time period, some used the definite article “The” in english to denote the Evil One but that also referred to the divine prosecutor of God’s heavenly court (who is not the devil) but the common and older usage of satan, which was still in use in Jesus’ time simply meant “adversary”. It is essentially a description of someone’s position in opposition to something else. In the Hebrew Bible, it is used to describe human adversaries. For example, in 1 Samuel 29:4, David is called a satan because he is perceived as an adversary to the Philistines. Jesus also tells Peter to get behind him, as in to follow him and not be an “adversary”. Peter is following his fallen human nature, which considering the backdrop is again very theologically deep, and is called to a higher standard.
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