Jesus is the Messiah - After verse 26, you could draw a line in your Bible
- Scholars call this "the continental divide" of the gospels
- Everything before this point Jesus has been ministering to the masses
- He showed Himself to the Jewish nation and then to Gentile nations that He is the promised Messiah
- From here forward, He will be focused on the disciples; getting them ready for what is coming
- Jesus asks who they say that He is
- The backdrop
- Caesarea Philippi is probably one of the prettiest spots on a tour to Israel
- It's where the Jordan river begins
- It's at the base of Mount Hermon
- Herod built Caesarea Philippi for Caesar Augustus to honor him
- In that town Caesar was being deified
- There were 14 temples to different Gods
- Jesus deliberately took His disciples to a place that had false worship to make a comparison between who He is and who they are; and to the life-blood of the Jewish nation—the Jordan river
- The historian, Josephus, said that the Jordan river flowed out of a cave at the base of Mount Hermon
- It was important to the Jews; source of living water
- It was important to the Greeks; birth of their god Pan
- It was important to the Roman; deified Caesar
- Peter says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16)
- Messiah and Christ are the same thing
- Christ was not His last name
- Christ was His title as the Messiah
- The word Messiah means to smear with oil; anointed
- There were three groups of people that they smeared with oil: prophets, priests, and kings
- Because of the anointing of the kings, they saw Messiah as a conquering king
- Because of the Babylonian captivity, a hunger was born to see someone greater than King David to come and deliver the Jews
- By the time of the New Testament, there was a growing intensity for a king, a deliverer, a messiah
- Jesus wants to show them that they won't understand Him until they see Him as a crucified Messiah
- Jesus warned them to tell no one who He is
- Later He reversed that and tell them to go into all the world and tell everyone (see Mark 16:15)
- He didn't want a revolt
- Jesus rebuked Peter
- Peter completely misunderstood
- You need to see Jesus as the sin-bearer
- This was all part of the discipleship—the training of these 12
Hebrew terms: מָשִׁ֫יחַ; mashiach, anointed
Greek terms: κόφινος; kophinos, a large basket; Δεκάπολις; Decapolis, Decapolis, a group or district of ten cities (of the Greek type) in Palestine, mostly southeast of the Lake of Tiberias; the names and number vary in ancient authorities; σπλαγχνίζομαι; splagchnizomai, feel compassion, have pity on, am moved, to be moved in the inward parts; δύναμις; dunamis, might, power, marvelous works;
Publications Referenced: Guinness Book of World Records
Figures referenced: Alfred Edersheim, Josephus
Cross references:Genesis 18:10-15, Deuteronomy 13, Deuteronomy 18, Matthew 11:20-24, Matthew 3:13-17, Matthew 15:39, Matthew 16:5-12, Matthew 16:16, Mark 2:1-12, Mark 6, Mark 16:15, Luke 12:1-3, John 3:16, Acts 9:25, Romans 1:16, 1 Corinthians 1:27, Revelation 14