SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/27/2022 9:24 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “The Setting”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
16:13a
Message of the
verse: “13
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi,”
I remember when our former Pastor
went to Israel and after he returned he was showing some pictures that he had
taken while there. It was his job while
there to preach a little sermon on the different places that they went to and I
remember seeing pictures of a cave where it is thought that what takes places
in this part of chapter 16 took place.
John MacArthur writes “The city of Caesarea Philippi was originally
named Paneas (or Panias), after the Greek god Pan, who according to pagan
mythology, was born in a nearby cave.
Caesar Augustus had given the region to Herod the Great, who built a
temple in Paneas in honor of the emperor.
Herod’s son, Philip the tetrarch, inherited the land, greatly enlarged
the city, and renamed it after Caesar.
He added the name Philippi both to gain honor for himself and to
distinguish the Caesarea from the one on the Mediterranean coast west of
Jerusalem.”
This city, Caesarea Philippi was
located some 25 miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee and also forty miles
southwest of Damascus, on a beautiful plateau near the headwaters of the Jordan
River. It is only a few miles to the
north, that the snow covered Mount Hermon rose to the height of over 9,000 feet
above sea level. On a clear day this
site can be seen from northern Galilean towns such as Capernaum, Cana, and also
Nazareth, so it seems that Jesus could have seen this sight when He was growing
up in Nazareth.
Caesarea Philippi was actually built near the
Northern town of Dan which is the most northern part of Israel. When you hear the term from Dan to Beersheba
in the Old Testament books of Judges and 1 Chronicles what is being talked
about are the most Northern and Southern cities of Jerusalem. The problem with Dan was it was the closest
to bad influences as over the border were pagan cities and people.
We have mentioned before that the
different places that Jesus took His disciples were at times a relief from the
heat of the Galilean lowlands, along with the pressure of the Jewish leaders
and this is one of those times.
MacArthur concludes: “From Luke 19:18 we learn that Jesus posed
His all-important question to the disciples just after He had spent time
praying alone, and from Mark 8:27 that the group had not yet arrived in the city
of Caesarea Philippi proper but were passing through some of the villages on
the outskirts. At the crossroads of
heathenism and Judaism Jesus left a time of intimate fellowship with His
heavenly Father and confronted His disciples with the question that every
person and every religion must one day answer.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I love
the example of my Lord who I see many times praying before big events that will
take place, and also when temptations for His disciples can take place like we
just read about.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to
be more prayerful in times of temptations, trusting the Lord to move me away
from them before the temptation is too strong.
8/27/2022 9:48
AM
No comments:
Post a Comment