From Vicar Linneman

June Newsletter
Vicar Tyler Linneman

Caesarea Philippi is not really a name that most people think of when they think of “the places of Jesus’ ministry,” such as this series has been.  Now, I don’t blame them for this.  After all, this city is a Roman city, and by that I mean it was built by the Romans for Romans, and it became the administrative seat of a province that was Jewish in name only.  Herod Philip ruled here over a territory that was thoroughly Gentile but had belonged to Herod the Great’s kingdom, and so theoretically Jewish.  But because of this Gentile cultural influence and a “Jewish” king that tolerated and even supported pagan culture, the surprising result was that Jesus enjoyed much more freedom here than in Judea and Jerusalem to teach his disciples and preach the Gospel.

And it’s in this city that Jesus asks his disciples a simple question designed to get the pulse on his ministry, asking “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  The answers are broad, some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others one of the prophets such as Jeremiah (Matt 16:13-14).  Now, none of these are completely wrong, but none of them are completely right either.  Jesus has aspects of John, aspects of Elijah, aspects of the prophets, but none of those fully capture who Jesus is.  In fact, it might better be said that those individuals had aspects of Jesus, while Jesus is the fullness of whom those men foreshadowed.

But Jesus shifts the focus away from the crowds and onto the disciples themselves.  He asks, “But who do you say that I am?”  And Peter, with characteristic boldness, replies, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” (Matt 16:16).  And Jesus praises this answer, which could only have come to him through the Holy Spirit.  And this confession of Christ, as Lord and God, is the foundation upon which the church is built.

All of this happens in a pagan land, one that shows no signs of Christ’s victory over sin and the powers of Satan.  In fact, paganism continued to grow in Caesarea Philippi for many years, until it became a full-fledged Roman city and was visited by the Emperor himself to witness the persecution of Jew and Christian alike.  The Roman Empire itself would persist as pagan for many more years, with little to no relief of the persecution for Christians. The church that the “gates of hell shall not prevail against” seemed to be losing to the powers of hell daily.

And yet, what Christ said remained true.  The church’s victory does not come in the form of temporal kings and victory, but in a confession of the truth that no king or nation could ever snuff out.  That confession persists, even today, confessed purely by the Church Fathers, later by the Reformers, and even until today in the preaching of faithful pastors.  We see today, in our land, a nation that seems Christian in name only.  We see many things that look like the victory of the powers of hell, but without a doubt we can still say that the church has not been overcome.  The same confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and God persists even today, and indeed the gates of hell have not prevailed against it. 

Your brother in Christ,Vicar Linneman