Upon This Rock

It was in Capernaum where Jesus spent the greater part of his earthly ministry. To Jesus it was a small matter to enter the Decapolis to preach and to teach, a very difficult thing during this time considering the ruling Greco-Roman political atmosphere in that area.

To the north, not very far from Capernaum, was the settlement of Caesarea Phillipi. Wonderfully located in the foothills of Mount Hermon, Caesarea Phillipi was a cultural and religious center where homage was paid to the old Greek divinity Pan, the Greek god of fertility. Leafy forests and ample brooks abounded in the region that is also known as Panias or Banias. This was the site of a temple constructed at the base of a rocky mountain and which lay annexed to a cave. It is in this environment surrounded by many pagan sites of adoration where Jesus holds a crucial conversation with his disciples. Jesus asks the question about whom do men think He is and His disciples reply with what they have been hearing all about, but Jesus insists: "But who do you say that I am?" Peter accurately responds: "You are the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of the living God." (Mathew 16:16 NASB)

Immediately, Jesus recognizes the divine manifestation given to Peter and declares: "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it" (Matthew 16:18 NASB). This statement contains a clear game of words frequently used in Hebraic education. There has been much debate on the theological meaning of the controversial conversation. In my opinion it is critically important that this discussion of great magnitude is performed by Jesus at a site of great pagan influence like Caesarea Phillipi.

"King Herod ordered the construction of niches in honor to the god Pan and his court of nymphs. Today these niches are still visible inlaid in the slope of the rocky mountains of Caesarea Phillipi, altars which were characteristic of the aberrant sensuality of the Roman Empire belief system"

Matthew 16:18 has a tremendous symbolism. In the writing the Greek koine term "Petra" means rock, a cliff or projection. It also means a rock that projects, a rocky crag or rocky land. The term always implies not a simple rock, but one that is large and notable. On the other hand, when speaking of the gates it is commonly known that in biblical and old world cities, doors represented defensive structures of power. When Jesus was affirming that the gates of Hades would not prevail against the Church, He made it very clear that the enemy would be definitely attacked.

King Herod ordered the construction of niches in honor to the god Pan and his court of nymphs. Today these niches are still visible inlaid in the slope of the rocky mountains of Caesarea Phillipi, altars which were characteristic of the aberrant sensuality of the Roman Empire belief system. The disciples of Jesus, who had sat for years at the feet of their rabbi to receive their education, now were lead to this place with the aim of being commissioned in an great task: to dominate the malignant forces and to take authority over His church. Jesus took them to Caesarea Phillipi, so that they could be witnesses of the moral reality of their times.

It is in this scenario, before that pagan rocky crag, that Messiah Jesus lays down a clear challenge: He wanted his disciples to attack the powers of hell.

Here, it is necessary to mention the words of the prophet Obadiah:

"Then your mighty men will be dismayed, O Teman, So that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter. Because of violence to your brother Jacob, You will be covered with shame, And you will be cut off forever. On the day that you stood aloof, On the day that strangers carried off his wealth, And foreigners entered his gate And cast lots for Jerusalem-- You too were as one of them"

"It is in this scenario, before that pagan rocky crag, that Messiah Jesus lays down a clear challenge: He wanted his disciples to attack the powers of hell"

The last verse speaks specifically of the violence against Israel (Jacob) and its consequences. Here the Hebrew word used is

(Hamas) that in addition to violence, also implies to commit injustice, cruelty, iniquity or the practice of evil. With regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, it is no coincidence to hear the name of Hamas. Although it is an acronym in Arabic for "Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya," or Movement of Islamic Resistance, in fact, it is a fanatical, bloodthirsty group dedicated to violence and death. The Islamist entity indiscriminately kills Israeli men, women and children with the ultimate objective of denying the existence of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Hamas militarily operates outside and within the State of Israel, and in spite of being a terrorist organization has managed to obtain an important victory in the recent "Palestinian" elections.

Another enemy who yearns for the destruction of the nation of Israel is the so called party of Allah or Hezbollah. It is surprising that in 2005, a commission of the North American Presbyterian church, headed by Nihad Túmeh and Robert Worley as spokesmen, paid a visit to Hezbollah meeting with Nabil Qawuq, head of the terrorist organization in the south of Lebanon. Previously, in October of 2004, a delegation of the same American church had met with Qawuq. During conversation, church leader Ronald Stone affirmed, "We treasure the precious words of Hezbollah and your expression of goodwill towards the American people. Also, we praise your initiative for dialogue and mutual understanding. We cherish these statements that bring us closer to you. As an elder of our church, I'd like to say that according to my recent experience, relations and conversations with Islamic leaders are a lot easier than dealings and dialogue with Jewish leaders." ¹

We must note that Hamas and Hezbollah appear on both the European Union and the US State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations. ² No, these church believers are not disingenuous, they are indecent. Indecent because a decent person would react against indecency, it is only common sense to oppose injustice and the brutal slaughter of innocent human beings. There is great harm being committed here, but it is not solely of form or esthetics, it is in the serious intellectual narrowness and short memory of the Constantine Church. For the sake of maintaining a "politically correct" attitude sadly many believers of Jesus adhere to a distorted Christianity. A product of dogmas transmitted through outlandish sermons from the pulpit and the fear of eternal condemnation. There is also the possibility that these so called believers are desirous of worldly position and political power. There exists in the Institutional Church a clandestine thematic complicity which tries to maintain an ambiguous relationship with Islam. It mixes concrete ignorance with terrorist sympathy. One assumes that the Church must battle the malignant powers of darkness and their earthly representatives, not support them.

Indeed, on the subject of church struggle the apostle Paul emphasized, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world" (Ephesians 6:12 KJV) But Paul also made reference to a great mystery, "that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints" (Colossians 1:26 NASB)

"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ (the Messiah): To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord"

"Today the al-aksa mosque and the so called Dome of the Rock (mount of Esau) emerge intimidating like 'Petra' or the idolatrous rock of Islam in Jerusalem. The Holy Mountain of God, Mount Zion, demands the removal of the anti-values that at the moment stains its holy place. And which rises against the will and sanctity of our sovereign Lord"

In this sense, the prophet Obadiah wrote another interesting passage: "The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom will be the LORD'S" (Obadiah 1:21 NASB)

Precisely, today the al-aksa mosque and the so called Dome of the Rock (mount of Esau) emerge intimidating like "Petra" or the idolatrous rock of Islam in Jerusalem. The Holy Mountain of God, Mount Zion, demands the removal of the anti-values that at the moment stains its holy place. And which rises against the will and sanctity of our sovereign Lord.

It is not necessary to remember Caesarea Phillipi to realize that we live in a culture oriented to the practice of permissiveness, tolerance, sensuality and lies. Very often it is seen as offensive to adhere to truths and to reject a certain quality of conduct and ideas. It labels us as radicals and intolerant. But Messiah Jesus not only commissioned to spread His Church everywhere, but also He announced that the power of darkness would be confronted, shaken and defeated by the true believers.

Unless history delays its steady march, the end times are fast approaching. We believers must reflect, repent and respond to the call of spiritual warfare that has been given to us in preparation for the return of Messiah and the Kingdom of God. The gates of Hades will never prevail against His Church.

¹ Presbyterian Church USA & Families of 9/11 Victims Delegations Meet with Hizbullah
² State-sponsored Terrorism and Foreign Terrorist Organizations