Who Do You Say He Is?

Mt 16:13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
Mt 16:14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Mt 16:15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Mt 16:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Mt 16:17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
Mt 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.


I had a "heavy revy" a couple of weeks ago about these verses and a belief I had for a long time was corrected as a result. But first, let's figure out the who, what & where's and then I'll explain to you what I learned. We read in verse 13, they are in the region known as Caesarea Philippi which is a very "Roman" and very pagan city, which is just a nice way of saying that they didn't adhere to the Jewish belief or lifestyle and was very worldly. What the verse doesn't say is exactly where they are. Jesus took them to the temple (no not THAT temple), this temple is dedicated to Caesar Augustus that was created by Herod the baby killer, who also built a temple for Zeus and and for the Greek god Pan.


Ok, so why is this temple important? Here is why not only the temple is important but who is was dedicated to. His full name was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus and he was the first Roman Emperor and his reign was from 31 B.C. to 14 A.D. Now Augustus Caesar was considered the following, The Son of God and God, worthy of our worship, savior of our world, and he came to bring - peace, order, man's rights and paradise on earth. He is like you and me - god as man and man as god. He is the high priest and king, the long expected one. Simply put he was looked upon as the Messiah Man which is the philosophy that one man can lead the world to peace and prosperity. In one place we have an example of "Hellenism" or a worldview that says my truth is my truth and your truth is your truth (relativism) and a worldview that focuses on ME and my needs and my pleasure. Ok so now we know who he was, let's go back to the verses and see why this is important. Who do they say Jesus is? The true SAVIOR of the world and not Augustus. What else? Jesus says HE is going to build HIS church on this rock of paganism not on Peter like some people have been taught (my heavy revy). HE is standing in this temple and telling HIS disciples that THIS is where HE is building HIS church HIS assembly and HE will lead us as we go against the gates of hell itself! Are you ready?