One On One: 100 Days With Jesus--Ministry YearsSample

Rock: The One who storms hell   

Everyone needs a place to go to sort things out—to retreat, to soak in beauty that feeds your soul. 

For Jesus, that place was Caesarea Philippi—which would be a shock to everyone back home. This town, 40 miles north of Galilee at the base of Mount Hermon, was Gentile country. Beautiful, yes, but Caesarea Philippi was also called “the Gates of Hell,” as the grotto from which a stream flowed was considered the entrance to the underworld. Three pagan shrines carved in the massive rock cliff walls surrounding the town offered despicable acts of worship to demons and deities. 

What a curious place for Jesus to take His disciples on a retreat. 

These were confusing times for the disciples. Three years now following their rabbi, they witnessed miracle after miracle—Jesus proving His power over demons, over nature, over death and disease. They sat at His feet re-learning what it means to please God. The crowds swelled in number and fervor around Jesus. Even on this retreat, the disciples half-expected Him to announce a plan to overthrow Rome. That’s what everyone expects the Messiah to do. And He is the Messiah, right? 

It was finally time for Jesus to help them get that right and get ready for coming events. So Jesus took them away from the crowds and into the quiet. He began with, “Who do the crowds think I am?” John the Baptist or Elijah come back to life. Maybe Jeremiah or another prophet. 

“Who do you think I am?” And the beautiful, bold Peter confessed for them all, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

Jesus blessed him and said, “You’ve been listening to my Father! He told you this secret of who I really am. And now I will tell you who you really are. You are Peter, a rock.” (Can you picture Him gesturing around Him to the rock wall behind them?) Even in an evil world, Jesus then promised to build His church. And “not even the gates of hell will keep it out.” And it made sense to the disciples why they were in Caesarea Philippi. 

But what Jesus said next made no sense at all. 

“Now I must go to Jerusalem, be rejected, suffer and be killed, and then rise again.” What? 

“Never, Jesus! That’s crazy talk!” Peter, still processing Jesus’ full identity, stepped over the line. For three years, Jesus was human to them. Now they realized He is also God. It made no sense why He would die. 

But Jesus said that’s what a real Messiah does. He saves. His sacrificial death will be our salvation. 

Jesus revealed the plan He wrote before the foundation of the world. That’s how long He has waited to buy back His own. If He is your Savior, then You’ve been on His mind since then and that’s what He was saying now to His disciples: He’s ready to pay the price. His choice to die made perfect sense to Him. 

Tomorrow: One on one with Jesus and Moses and Elijah