The Cave of Pan and the spring of Banias at Caesarea Philippi, where people have worshiped false gods for centuries

CAESAREA PHILIPPI From the god Pan to the God-Man

MARK 8

 THE MELTING SNOWS on the peaks of Mount Hermon seep into the ground and reappear at its base. From the mouth of a large cave bubbles a cold, clear stream that helps form the headwaters of the Jordan River. It's here that ancient people gathered to worship. In a land where water was life, it's no wonder that one of the major sources of water became a primary place of worship for centuries. But regrettably, the god worshipped at Caesarea Philippi was not the God of Israel.

In the Old Testament, the site has been identified as Baal-gad (Josh. 11:17; Josh. 12:7; Josh. 13:5) and Mount Baal hermon (Judg. 3:3). Archaeologists have uncovered an open air shrine above the cave from which the water flows. Niches still visible in the side of the cliff held statues of the Greek god Pan the mythical half man, half goat who played the panpipe.

Jesus brought His twelve disciples far north to the pagan region of Caesarea Philippi and asked them, "Who do people say I am?" (Mark 8:27). The crowds, of course, saw Jesus as nothing more than a preacher or a moral teacher or perhaps even a prophet like John the Baptist or Elijah (Mark 8:28). When Jesus narrowed the question and asked His disciples who they said He was, the apostle Peter spoke for all of them and answered Jesus' question correctly: "You are the Messiah' (Mark 8:29). Jesus then moved beyond sharing who He was to sharing what He would do namely, be killed and resurrected. In a moment of disillusionment, Peter outright rejected the message of the Cross. This revealed what he expected of Jesus.

Peter would soon be one of the three disciples who witnessed the Transfiguration, which followed this conversation (Mark 8:31-9:1). In the Transfiguration, Jesus revealed that He is indeed the glorious Messiah and that His Kingdom would come but first would come the Cross.

Like it did for Peter, the Cross reveals our own expectations of God. We want the glory and the good stuff of God's Kingdom right now. But Jesus revealed that most of that awaits us in our future resurrection.