Page 13 - Holyland Magazine - Catholic Edition 2014
P. 13
to uproot this blasphemous method of worship from And Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of
the people of Israel, God sent several prophets and Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by lesh and
judges to save them. Elijah was one such prophet blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you
sent to rescue the hearts and minds of the Israelites that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
from their own wrongdoing. church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome
it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
In the Hellenistic period (4rd – 1st centuries BCE) the whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,
city of Banias was renamed Panias in honor of the and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
Greek god of shepherds – Pan. Today, the ancient heaven.” (Matthew 16:17-19)
remains of the Temple of Pan can be visited. Next to
the remains, there is a deep cave in which the pagan Jesus and His disciples stood above the abyss,
people of Panias made sacriices to Pan. They would above this place of false worship, above the gate of
throw a goat into the depths of the cave. It was their Hades. A place that represents wrongdoing in the
belief that if the goat surfaced, their sacriice was eyes of God, a place drenched in false sacriices to
not accepted. If it did not surface, the god Pan was other gods, and yet Jesus said, “And on this rock I will
pleased. build my church.”
Josephus Flavius speaks of this cave in his book – With this statement, Jesus closes a circle, and
The Wars of the Jews: perhaps, for this reason, Jesus selected this site to
be the place where He founded His church. During
Wars 1,21,3 (404): “…where is a top of a mountain the time of Jesus, the city of Caesarea Philippi was
that is raised to an immense height, and at its side, predominantly a non-Jewish city, the word of God
beneath, or at its bottom, a dark cave opens itself; was not known to its people, and they knew only
within which there is a horrible precipice, that
the words of false gods and demigods. Here Jesus
descends abruptly to a vast depth; it contains a decided to build His church, to seal the gates of the
mighty quantity of water, which is immovable; and realm of Hades, where according to the Greeks and
when any body lets down any thing to measure the Romans, the lord of the underworld resided.
depth of the earth beneath the water, no length of
cord is suicient to reach it. Now the fountains of Jesus called Peter to an important task, “I will give
Jordan rise at the roots of this cavity outwardly; and, you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever
as some think, this is the utmost origin of Jordan.” you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
(Matthew 16:19)
Not until the Roman period was the city named
Caesarea Philippi, in honor of Augustus Caesar. It
Photos: www.goisrael.com was after the Muslim occupation, in the 7th Century It is in a pagan city that Jesus built the foundation of
Photographer: Itamar Grinberg
AD, that the pronunciation changed to Banias, as the Church, giving Peter the keys to Heaven and Earth,
we know it today. The letter ‘p’ does not exist in the recognizing Peter’s role in the future Church. Jesus
Arabic alphabet; the sound closest to the ‘p’ sound knew that his fate had been cast. He knew what was
is the letter ‘b.’ waiting for Him in Jerusalem, and so He passed the
keys to Heaven and Earth on to Peter. We need to
However, it was only at the time of Jesus that we remember that His Church seals the Gate of Hell, the
begin to see the signiicance of Caesarea Philippi, as realm of Hades. The keys to heaven and earth were
it changed from a site built on pagan ideology, with given to Peter to represent that the true path comes
open worship of false gods, to a place of faith. via the Church. That is why the Holy Father’s banner or
lag, the Holy Father representing Peter, depicts Peter
Matthew 16:13 speaks of Jesus’ visit to the city of holding the keys to heaven and earth.
Banias: “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea
Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say In Caesarea Philippi, Peter received the enormous
the Son of Man is?’” responsibility of leading the nations, showing them a
true path, and building the foundation of the Church.
Jesus knew the history of Caesarea Philippi and knew These metaphorical keys represent the moral and
the pagan roots upon which it was built. Perhaps, it is ethical values we should live by in order to gain entry
precisely for this reason that Jesus chose this place to Heaven. Just as a shepherd leads his lock, right
to pose His question to the disciples. It is Simon Peter here, on the hills near Caesarea Philippi, near the
who answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the cave of the goats, knowing full well that if he misleads
living God.” his lock, they will fall into the endless abyss.
Banias Waterfall
The Grotto of Pan
Omer Eshel is Israel Tourism
Consul, Midwest Region USA
13
the people of Israel, God sent several prophets and Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by lesh and
judges to save them. Elijah was one such prophet blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you
sent to rescue the hearts and minds of the Israelites that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
from their own wrongdoing. church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome
it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
In the Hellenistic period (4rd – 1st centuries BCE) the whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,
city of Banias was renamed Panias in honor of the and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
Greek god of shepherds – Pan. Today, the ancient heaven.” (Matthew 16:17-19)
remains of the Temple of Pan can be visited. Next to
the remains, there is a deep cave in which the pagan Jesus and His disciples stood above the abyss,
people of Panias made sacriices to Pan. They would above this place of false worship, above the gate of
throw a goat into the depths of the cave. It was their Hades. A place that represents wrongdoing in the
belief that if the goat surfaced, their sacriice was eyes of God, a place drenched in false sacriices to
not accepted. If it did not surface, the god Pan was other gods, and yet Jesus said, “And on this rock I will
pleased. build my church.”
Josephus Flavius speaks of this cave in his book – With this statement, Jesus closes a circle, and
The Wars of the Jews: perhaps, for this reason, Jesus selected this site to
be the place where He founded His church. During
Wars 1,21,3 (404): “…where is a top of a mountain the time of Jesus, the city of Caesarea Philippi was
that is raised to an immense height, and at its side, predominantly a non-Jewish city, the word of God
beneath, or at its bottom, a dark cave opens itself; was not known to its people, and they knew only
within which there is a horrible precipice, that
the words of false gods and demigods. Here Jesus
descends abruptly to a vast depth; it contains a decided to build His church, to seal the gates of the
mighty quantity of water, which is immovable; and realm of Hades, where according to the Greeks and
when any body lets down any thing to measure the Romans, the lord of the underworld resided.
depth of the earth beneath the water, no length of
cord is suicient to reach it. Now the fountains of Jesus called Peter to an important task, “I will give
Jordan rise at the roots of this cavity outwardly; and, you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever
as some think, this is the utmost origin of Jordan.” you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
(Matthew 16:19)
Not until the Roman period was the city named
Caesarea Philippi, in honor of Augustus Caesar. It
Photos: www.goisrael.com was after the Muslim occupation, in the 7th Century It is in a pagan city that Jesus built the foundation of
Photographer: Itamar Grinberg
AD, that the pronunciation changed to Banias, as the Church, giving Peter the keys to Heaven and Earth,
we know it today. The letter ‘p’ does not exist in the recognizing Peter’s role in the future Church. Jesus
Arabic alphabet; the sound closest to the ‘p’ sound knew that his fate had been cast. He knew what was
is the letter ‘b.’ waiting for Him in Jerusalem, and so He passed the
keys to Heaven and Earth on to Peter. We need to
However, it was only at the time of Jesus that we remember that His Church seals the Gate of Hell, the
begin to see the signiicance of Caesarea Philippi, as realm of Hades. The keys to heaven and earth were
it changed from a site built on pagan ideology, with given to Peter to represent that the true path comes
open worship of false gods, to a place of faith. via the Church. That is why the Holy Father’s banner or
lag, the Holy Father representing Peter, depicts Peter
Matthew 16:13 speaks of Jesus’ visit to the city of holding the keys to heaven and earth.
Banias: “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea
Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say In Caesarea Philippi, Peter received the enormous
the Son of Man is?’” responsibility of leading the nations, showing them a
true path, and building the foundation of the Church.
Jesus knew the history of Caesarea Philippi and knew These metaphorical keys represent the moral and
the pagan roots upon which it was built. Perhaps, it is ethical values we should live by in order to gain entry
precisely for this reason that Jesus chose this place to Heaven. Just as a shepherd leads his lock, right
to pose His question to the disciples. It is Simon Peter here, on the hills near Caesarea Philippi, near the
who answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the cave of the goats, knowing full well that if he misleads
living God.” his lock, they will fall into the endless abyss.
Banias Waterfall
The Grotto of Pan
Omer Eshel is Israel Tourism
Consul, Midwest Region USA
13
