ON WHICH ROCK?

It was at Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus made his famous declaration, “ON THIS ROCK I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).  The location is as significant as the revelation when it comes to understanding God’s multi-faceted plan for reuniting the Houses of Israel & Judah and establishing his reign on earth among his covenant people (Ephesians 2 & 3). Jesus took Peter and friends deep into enemy territory before prompting Peter to confess his identity as Messiah. He could have asked him this deeply personal question as they were resting in the shade of a Galilean olive grove or even on the steps of his Father’s Temple, but he didn’t. He asked him at the base of a mountain that contained the gate to the underworld. It was a worldwide center for the worship of various false gods. The trip to Caesarea Philippi and the profession given there was a prophetic act that foreshadowed his Father’s plan to infiltrate the nations of the earth with the scattered Ten Northern Tribes of the House of Israel. The Father would reveal “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” to his people in the lands where they had been scattered (Matthew 16:16). And he would awaken them to their authority to bind and loose, in union with their God (Matthew 16:19). It wasn’t a field trip, it was a military briefing from Hebrew Central Command. The depth of this intel probably wasn’t understood by the disciples accompanying Jesus that day, and I don’t know that it needed to be. TODAY is the day for the revelation of this multi-faceted mystery. Praise God for his written word, a paper trail that has been preserved for “good Bereans” (Acts 17:11).