Panias

 

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people 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-Jonah! 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 gates of hell 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.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. (Matthew 16:13-20 ESV).

 

Mary and I have traveled to Israel. These trips were enhanced by the presence of Bill Tolar, former Professor of Biblical Archaeology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has gone on to be with the Lord now; however, his knowledge was unmatched. He insisted that our trips include a stop at Banias in the northern part of the country. Banias was a settlement at the foot of Mount Hermon, and a spring from there makes a river that flows into the Jordan River. At the time of Jesus’ ministry, Banias was called Panias and was dedicated to the worship of the Greek god Pan. Since I had the privilege of being the “preacher” on these trips, he and I worked together at each stop to provide both historical and archaeological information and devotional Bible messages. Our reading today was always the passage I used when we got to this stop on the tour.

 

It is not surprising that as Jesus and his disciples went into that area, he asked them a defining question: “Who do you say I am?” In other words, “Do you recognize me for who I really am, or am I just another object of worship like you see here? How do you discern my person, my teaching, and my miracles?” Peter, inspired by God, responded by saying, “You are the Messiah”—that is, the Christ (“Anointed One”). Peter declared that Jesus was the anointed Son of God who came to bring the kingdom of God. Jesus came to restore all that is broken by sin.

 

Decidedly different from false Greek gods and the worship they were known for, Jesus is the true “Son of the living God.” Jesus is the real thing. We are faced with that same question today. Who do you say Jesus is?