LEARNING DAILY

 

Matthew 16:18-19, “And I also say to you that you are Simon Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Jesus

 

Jesus took his disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi to teach them an object lesson. This area had been named by Herod’s son Philip to honor the Emperor of Rome. It was an area of great natural beauty. It was an area that was also the center of worship of false gods. The source of the Jordan River was nearby;  the river flowed out of a cave that led [people to declare it was the river Styx which led to the underworld (from our Tour book). The region was also known as Panais, named after the Greek god Pan.

 

There was also another name for this cave – “the gate of hell”. Pan was said to have the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat. He was not worshipped in temples but in natural places such as caves. We were told that a statue of Pan was located in the cave here. The worship of the god Pan included sacrifices, drinking, and sexually immoral rituals.

 

The “gates of hell” represent all the demonic forces and all Satan’s evil strategies to destroy the followers of Jesus Christ (the Church) or His mission in the world. Jesus taught that deception, doctrinal error, and the enticement of sin would come against every Believer, every denomination, and every local church will experience these forces in some degree. It seems to me that these forces are certainly at work in the world today.

 

But Jesus also taught that “in spite of Satan doing his absolute worst, the Church that He would build cannot, in the end, be overcome by Satan” (LSSB). Jesus told Peter he had “the keys to the kingdom”; those keys represent the authority to enter into His kingdom for both Jews and Gentiles. Do you remember after the disciple were filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, Peter preached and 3,000 were saved? A few chapters late in the book of Acts, Peter received a vision while at the house of Cornelius about the door to the kingdom opening for the Gentiles.

 

The “keys of the kingdom” also included the authority in heaven and on earth the Father had given to Jesus. Jesus now was giving this authority to Peter and to the Church. This authority for proclaiming the gospel also included the authority to bind demonic activity and disease, and to loose people from their sin, addictions, and sickness through the salvation Jesus Christ offered through His death and resurrection.

 

Understanding the meaning of the region of Caesarea Philippi changed my entire thought on the verses that followed. I wonder what else I have missed because I did not know the full meaning behind the name of a region. I am probably going to read a little slower and do more research to understand the full meaning of God’s Word from now on. Perhaps, that was the point of the impression of Caesarea Philippi for me.