Latest / Reformed Thinking / “Who Do You Say That I Am?”: Christ’s Confessed Identity and the Unconquerable Church (Matthew 16:13–20)

Transcript

“Who Do You Say That I Am?”: Christ’s Confessed Identity and the Unconquerable Church (Matthew 16:13–20) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. Today we are bringing you a
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massive, thorough breakdown of one of the most defining
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climactic scenes in all of biblical history.
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We are looking right at the Gospel of Matthew chapter 16,
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verses 13 through 20. Right, and we have a solid stack
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of sources in front of us today, historical data, grammatical
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analysis, and theological commentaries that unpack the
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Christological bedrock and the authority of the church.
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Yeah, and our mission for you today is simple.
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We want you to gain a clear, orthodox understanding of
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Christ's identity and the authority of his assembly.
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We are going to look at the massive contrast between the
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reality of sovereign grace and the modern seeker sensitive
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pragmatism that often tries to soften the edges of the gospel.
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OK, let's unpack this. We are stepping into a specific
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historical and geographical setting that is completely
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intentional on the part of Jesus.
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This is not a random afternoon stroll.
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He walks his disciples about 25 miles north of the Sea of
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Galilee, mostly uphill into a region called Caesarea Philippi.
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What's fascinating here is the sheer contrast between that
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physical environment and the spiritual truth being revealed.
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Jesus deliberately marches his disciples into this specific
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region for a reason. I mean it.
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Caesarea Philippe was not some quiet retreat center.
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It was the dark heart of Pagan idolatry in the ancient world.
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It. Really was.
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Yeah, if you look at the historical layout of the city,
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the landscape was literally littered with shrines to false
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gods. There was a massive rock face, a
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sheer Cliff and carved right into it.
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Where these niches holding statues to the Greek God Pan.
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Pan was the God of fright, of panic, of nature in the wild,
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and right next to that there was a massive, gleaming white marble
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temple built by Herod the Great, dedicated entirely to the
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worship of Caesar Augustus as a living God.
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You have to picture the disciples, these dusty working
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class Jewish men standing in this arena of rival Lords and
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competing monuments. The whole environment is
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screaming for allegiance to worldly might and mythological
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deities. The smell of Pagan sacrifices
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would have been in the air. And right there, in the shadow
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of all that intimidating architecture, Christ forces a
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discussion of true allegiance. He cuts right through the fog of
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human philosophy and pluralism with a very targeted question.
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That visual is incredible. He drags them away from the
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familiar religious debates of Jerusalem and the cozy fishing
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villages of Galilee, and he places them in the absolute
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epicenter of worldliness to ask this question.
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And the sources point out that Jesus begins by asking, who do
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people say that the Son of Man is?
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Now, he does not ask this because he needs a status update
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on his popularity. He's not taking a public opinion
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poll to adjust his marketing strategy.
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It is a deliberate probe to see where the culture stands.
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And that title he uses for himself, Son of Man, is a
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massive clue right out of the gate.
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It carries A tremendous amount of biblical weight.
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We are talking about Daniel Chapter 7, verses 13 and 14.
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Yes, Daniel 7 is the key to understanding that title.
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A lot of times modern readers hear Son of Man and think Jesus
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is just identifying with human weakness, saying you know I'm a
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human being like you. But to a 1st century Jewish
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audience, it meant something entirely different.
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Right, because in Daniel's vision, the Son of Man is a
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cosmic heavenly figure who rides on the clouds.
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He approaches the Ancient of Days, God the Father, and is
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given everlasting dominion, glory and a Kingdom that will
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never pass away. All peoples, nations and
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languages are commanded to serve Him.
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So when Jesus constantly refers to himself as the Son of Man, he
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is making an apocalyptic claim to universal kingship.
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He is already framing the conversation around his divine
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right to rule. He's basically asking, how is
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the crowd reconciling my heavenly kingship with what they
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see in my earthly ministry? And the crowd's response, as the
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disciples reported, reveals a total lack of spiritual
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perception. Which brings us to the public
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rumor mill. The disciples report the best
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guesses of the masses. They say some say John the
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Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the
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prophets. Now let's break those down,
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because they are very specific names.
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If someone calls you John the Baptist, they're categorizing
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you as a fearless, wilderness dwelling moral reformer, someone
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who stands up to corrupt politicians.
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Yeah, and if they call you Elijah, they are connecting you
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with massive miracles, fire coming down from heaven, and the
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great eschatological hope of Israel.
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And comparing him to Jeremiah is like calling someone the
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ultimate weeping prophet, a guy known for intense sorrow,
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righteous suffering, and preaching judgement to a deaf
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nation. On the surface, these sound like
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massive compliments. I mean to be lumped in with, but
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the heavy hitters of Israel's history seems pretty respectful.
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They do sound respectful, but our sources highlight the fatal
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flaw in all these answers. They are polite evasions.
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They are awaited. Tip your hat to Jesus while
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simultaneously denying his true identity.
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The natural human mind is incredibly adapted, safely
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categorizing Jesus. We love to put him in a box
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labeled religious hero, moral philosopher, or bold social
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reformer. Why do we do that?
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Because keeping him in the category of a really great guy
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or even a prophet protects the Sinner from having to submit to
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him, a sovereign Lord. If Jesus is just a prophet like
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Jeremiah, you can listen to his advice, nod your head, and then
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go live your life however you want.
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But if He is the sovereign Lord of the universe, He owns you.
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He demands total surrender and repentance.
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The crowd was willing to give him admiration, but they
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absolutely refuse to give him worship.
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That is a critical distinction for you to catch as you listen
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to this deep dive. Admiration is not the same as
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worship, unless you think this is just an ancient problem
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isolated to a bunch of folks in sandals 2000 years ago.
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The data shows this is the very same dynamic happening right
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now. Oh, absolutely.
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The 2024 Ligonier State of Theology survey reveals
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something staggering. Approximately 53% of American
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adults and a shocking 43% of self identify evangelicals
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believed that Jesus was a great teacher, but not God.
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Let that statistics sink in for a second.
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Almost half of the people sitting in evangelical churches
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view Jesus precisely the same way the crowds did in Caesarea
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Philippi. They think he is a fantastic
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moral instructor, but they strip him of his deity.
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It proves the timeless nature of the crowds blindness.
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The natural human condition has not changed one bit since that
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day. In the shadow of those marble
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temples, people are still trying to reduce the Lord of glory to a
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manageable size. That survey data really
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illustrates what theologians call the pedagogical use of the
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law. The law acts like a mirror,
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showing us our true condition. Here, the inadequate guesses of
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the public expose the total depravity and intellectual pride
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of the human mind. The unregenerate world, even in
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its most religious and respectful moments, completely
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fails to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
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John Calvin famously wrote that the human heart is a factory of
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idols, and we see that clearly here.
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If left to our own reasoning, our own historical observation
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and our own religious traditions, we are totally blind
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to the truth. We will always prefer a
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truncated, man centered Jesus who gives us good advice but
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demands no repentance. The public opinion recorded in
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verse 14 is a massive billboard for spiritual bankruptcy.
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It demonstrates that you can collect all the facts about
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Christ, you can witness the miracles first hand.
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You can hear the Sermon on the Mount with your own ears and
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still completely miss the Messiah.
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Which brings us to the sharp turn in the narrative.
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Jesus listens to this public consensus.
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He hears all the play compliments and then he turns
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the blade. Verse 15 marks a massive
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grammatical pivot. If you look at the Greek text,
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it uses the adversative conjunction day, which
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translates to a very sharp But he says, but who do you say that
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I am? That single word separates
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second hand religion from true personal faith.
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Jesus absolutely refuses to let his disciples hide behind public
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opinion poll numbers or inherited family tradition.
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He looks them in the eye and forces the issue.
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And as you consider this, you have to realize that this
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question is doing the very same thing to your conscience right
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now. Neutrality is an absolute
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impossibility when it comes to Jesus Christ.
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You cannot sit on the fence. Right.
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To delay a response, to say I need more time to think about it
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is in itself a rejection of his kingship.
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It flushes the heart out of hiding.
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You cannot hide in the crowd anymore.
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Peter, acting as a designated spokesman for the 12, steps up
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and delivers a monumental response.
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He says you are the Christ, the Son of the living in God.
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This is a compact, breathtaking confession.
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We need to look closely at both halves of that sentence.
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First, he identifies Jesus as the Christ.
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Christ is not Jesus last name, it is a title.
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It is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah, which
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means the anointed 1. This means Peter is recognizing
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Jesus as the anointed King, the total fulfillment of all the
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ancient promises made to King David.
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It is a declaration that the long-awaited sovereign has
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finally arrived to rescue his people.
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Second, he adds the Son of the living God.
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In the context of Matthew's Gospel and against the backdrop
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of all those dead Pagan idols in Caesarea Philippi, this is a
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revelation of unique ontological deity Peter's confessing that
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Jesus is God Incarnate. He is of the exact same essence
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as the Father. He bears divine authority and is
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worthy of absolute faith, obedience, and worship.
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Now here is where it gets really interesting and honestly, where
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the text completely destroys human pride.
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When Peter makes this brilliant, mathematically perfect
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theological confession, Jesus does not pat him on the back.
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He does not congratulate Peter for having a superior intellect,
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going to the right seminary, or having sharp religious
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instincts. No.
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Jesus responds with the blessing that shifts the entire ground of
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the conversation away from human achievement.
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He says, Blessed are you Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has
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not revealed this to you, but my Father, who is in heaven.
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Let's breakdown that idiom, flesh and blood.
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This is a common Jewish phrase, and it refers to human nature in
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its ordinary, frail, fallen capacities.
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It encompasses human reason, logic, empirical observation,
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family tradition, and even intense religious enthusiasm.
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Jesus is stating without any ambiguity that human faculties
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by themselves simply cannot produce saving knowledge of the
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Son of God. This is the doctrine of
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monarchistic regeneration playing out in real time.
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If you want to put a theological label on it, it aligns perfectly
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with the Westminster Confession of Faith, specifically chapter
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3, which covers God's eternal decree.
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Monarchism simply means one working.
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It means God does the work of salvation alone.
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The scene proves definitively that frail human intellect
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cannot deduce spiritual truth on its own.
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The Apostle Paul talks about this later in his letters,
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saying that the natural person does not accept the things of
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the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him.
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It requires the sovereign electing decree of God the
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Father to reach down and open blind eyes.
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It is like a man born completely blind standing in front of a
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beautiful painting. You can describe the colors all
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day long, but until someone gives him the gift of sight, he
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cannot perceive it. The Greek verb used for revealed
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here indicates an unveiling, a pulling back of a curtain, a
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removal of what covers and blinds the mind.
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It is a disclosure from heaven, not a discovery from earth.
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Think about it, if flesh and blood could figure this out
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through sheer brain power, then the highly educated Pharisees
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and the wealthy Sadducees, the guys with all the scrolls and
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the pH DS of the ancient world, would have been the very first
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to bow the knee. Instead, they constantly
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demanded more signs, while the ultimate signs stood right in
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front of them. And they wanted him dead.
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The decisive difference between Peter's glorious confession and
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the crowd's utter blindness is the merciful monarchistic
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intervention of the Father. I love that analogy of the blind
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man. It makes so much sense of what
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is happening here. Think about how radically this
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applies to you today. This reality absolutely levels
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the playing field. It destroys any room for human
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boasting. No one can ever brag about
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having a superior spiritual intellect, better moral
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instincts, or being smarter than their neighbor who rejects the
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gospel. If you confess Christ truly
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today, it is solely because the Father has been incredibly
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gracious to you. It slays pride right at the
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root, but at the same time it secures your assurance, your
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salvation, and your standing. Do not rest on your own
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fluctuating strength. They do not depend on your
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ability to hold on to God with white knuckles.
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It rests entirely on God's initiative to reveal the sun to
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you and His sovereign grip on your life.
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This also completely exposes the bankruptcy of modern approaches
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that treat church growth like a corporate marketing technique.
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You cannot manufacture a true confession of faith with the
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right stage lighting, the perfect emotional chord
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progression on a guitar or seeker sensitive gimmicks.
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The Church's task is not to manipulate conversions.
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The task is to faithfully proclaim the Word of God and
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trust the Father to do only the Father can do.
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Unveil the Son in the hearts of His elect.
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That is a crucial application. And following this revelation of
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sovereign grace, Jesus immediately shifts the metaphor
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from revelation to construction. Verse 18 contains one of the
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most famous and historically debated phrases in the entire
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Bible. And I tell you, you are Peter.
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And on this rock I will build my church.
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We really need to look at the Greek grammar here, because
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getting this wrong has led to centuries of historical and
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theological error. Christ is employing A masterful,
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highly intentional word play. He says You are Petros, and on
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this Petra I will build my church.
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If you open up a Greek lexicon, the distinction is glaring.
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Petrus, which is the name Jesus gives to Peter, is a masculine
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noun in the Greek language of the time.
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It signifies a small detached stone, a loose boulder you could
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pick up and throw, or a stone you might stumble over on a
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path. In contrast, Petra, which is
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translated as rock in the second-half of the sentence, is
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a feminine noun. It refers to a massive,
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immovable Cliff face. It is solid bedrock.
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You can picture the sheer Cliff of Caesarea Philippi right
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behind them as a visual aid for this.
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So Jesus is drawing a massive contrast, not making a direct
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equivalent. He is saying you are a small
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stone, but on this massive bedrock Cliff I will build my
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assembly. This totally dismantles the
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Roman Catholic claim to Papal supremacy.
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For centuries the Roman Catholic Church has pointed to this very
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text to assert that Peter himself is the rock, thereby
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establishing a perpetual human monarchy over the universal
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church. They claim Peter is the
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foundation and the Pope's are his successors.
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But the Greek grammar simply does not allow for that
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interpretation. You do not build a skyscraper on
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a Pebble. The immovable bedrock is not the
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frail, fallible man Peter. Let's be honest about Peter.
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This is the very same man who, just a few paragraphs later in
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this very chapter, tries to rebuke Jesus away from the cross
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and gets called Satan for his efforts.
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And this is the same man who later denies even knowing Jesus
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three times to a servant girl in the courtyard.
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The church is not built on a detached, shifting, unreliable
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stone. The Petra, the massive bedrock,
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is the divinely granted confession of Christ's eternal
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sonship that Peter just articulated out loud.
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The foundation of the Church is Christ confessed as revealed by
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the Father. Building upon that architectural
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metaphor, we have to analyze the next phrase.
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I will build my church. Notice the specific wording
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Jesus chooses. First, look at the possessive
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pronoun my. He says my church.
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It belongs exclusively to him. This sweeps away all clerical
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pride. No pastor, no elder board, no
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denomination and no church council owns the assembly.
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And it also sweeps away consumerist religion.
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You cannot customize the local church like a consumer product
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to fit your lifestyle preferences because it belongs
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to the Lord who purchased it with His own blood.
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He sets the rules. Second, look at the future tense
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I will build the sources we are working from highlight the
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dispensationalist context regarding this phrasing.
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The use of the future tense signals that the Church is a
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distinct entity. Right.
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It is a mystery that was largely unrevealed in the Old Testament,
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and it is entirely separate from national Israel.
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It is the birth of a brand new assembly, united not by
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ethnicity or geography, but by faith and the completed work of
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Christ. And the word Jesus chooses for
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church here is incredibly specific and revealing.
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It is the Greek term ecclesia. This is the very first time this
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word appears in the entire New Testament if you look at the
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secular Greco Roman usage of the time.
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And ecclesia was not a religious word.
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It was a civic word. It meant a formerly convened
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assembly of citizens who were called out of their homes by
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Herald to conduct town business. Christ deliberately bypassed the
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common Jewish religious term, which would have been synagogue
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or synagogue. He's making a massive statement.
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He is declaring that he is billing a distinct, called out
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assembly of citizens for his own Kingdom, gathered around the
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confession of his divine identity.
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And then he gives this assembly an astonishing promise of
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invincibility, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against
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it. If we connect this to the bigger
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picture or wait, actually I want to hear your take on that
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connection. If we connect this to the bigger
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picture, we see the ultimate eschatological comfort for the
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believer. What does Hades mean in biblical
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terminology? Hades represents the realm of
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the dead. It is the realm of the grave and
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destruction. And notice the architectural
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term Jesus uses gates. Gates are not an offensive
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weapon. You do not see armies marching
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into battle swinging a pair of gates of the enemy.
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Gates are defensive, fortified structures of a stronghold.
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They are designed to keep prisoners in and attackers out.
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The promise Jesus is making is that death itself cannot consume
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the bride of Christ. The Church is the one on the
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offensive, storming the stronghold of death, and the
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gates of the grave cannot hold up against her.
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The Church will face intense opposition throughout history.
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She will face massive cultural pressure, political hostility
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and horrific martyrdom. But the grave will not have the
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final. Word.
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Because Christ is the one building the Church, and because
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Christ himself will physically conquer death through His own
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resurrection, His people cannot be permanently held by the realm
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of death. The cemetery is a temporary
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lodging for the Saint. It is not a permanent prison.
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The gates will fall. That is a staggering comfort.
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It means the Church militant, the church fighting on earth,
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will unequivocally become the Church triumphant in heaven.
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You do not have to wring your hands about the survival of
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Christianity. But Jesus does not stop with
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this massive cosmic promise of invincibility.
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He moves directly into the practical administration of the
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church on earth. In verse 19 he says to Peter, I
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will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven.
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Now what does the imagery of the keys of the Kingdom actually
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mean? We hear that phrase thrown
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around a lot. It is not some mystical
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sentiment and it does not mean Peter is literally standing at
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pearly gates in the clouds checking ID's.
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To understand it, we have to look at the biblical theology in
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the background, specifically Isaiah chapter 22, verse 22.
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Yes, the Old Testament background is crucial here.
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In Isaiah 22 you have a man named Eliakim.
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The key of the House of David is laid upon his shoulder.
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He is the King's steward. He is essentially the Prime
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Minister of the palace. The key represents delegated
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administrative authority. The steward has the right to
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open and shut doors, to admit people into the King's presence,
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and to exclude people all on behalf of the king.
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He is acting as the King's authorized representative.
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Jesus, as the true Son of David in the sovereign King of the
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Universe, is entrusting these keys to his assembly, with Peter
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as the initial representative. But we must be very precise
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about the nature of this authority.
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This is ministerial authority, not magisterial authority.
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What does that mean? It means the Church does not
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invent its own laws. The Church does not act as an
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autonomous monarch, writing new doctrines or changing the rules
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to fit the cultural mood. The keys are a grant of
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stewardship, strictly bounded by and completely accountable to
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the word of the King who gives them.
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And this leads right into a phrase that is heavily
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misunderstood and abused today. And whatever you bind on earth
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shall be bound in heaven, And whatever you loose on earth
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shall be loosed in heaven. Some people read that and think
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the Church has the authority to command God, like we dictate
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terms on earth and heaven has to rubber stamp them.
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But the Greek syntax here is an absolute goldmine for
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understanding how church authority actually functions,
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and it says the direct opposite. The syntax here is monumental,
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and we can look at it without getting lost in academic weeds.
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The Greek text uses a very specific verb structure called
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paraphrastic, future perfect passive participles.
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The specific terms are estate ademinon for binding and estate
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aluminon for losing. Now what does that actually mean
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in plain English? If you translate that literally
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and grammatically, it reads shall having been bound and
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shall having been loosed. Think of it like a news anchor
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reporting a court verdict. The news anchor does not decide
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the verdict. They announce what the judge has
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already decided. This syntax points to a heaven
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first reality. It completely reverses how many
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people view church authority. The Church on earth does not
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dictate its will to heaven, forcing God to validate human
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decisions. Instead, the grammatical aspect
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proves that earth is merely proclaiming what has already
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been decreed in the sovereign, Eternal Council of Heaven.
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The church does not manipulate God's courtroom.
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She simply announces God's verdict according to God's
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written Word. I love that news anchor analogy.
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So how does this actually apply to you and your local church on
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a Sunday morning? It applies directly through 2
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main avenues, the pure preaching of the gospel and the faithful
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exercise of biblical church discipline.
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When a pastor stands up, preaches the gospel, and call
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sinners to repent and believe in Christ, the church is using the
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keys to open the Kingdom. The church is declaring the
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mercy that God has already promised in Christ.
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They're saying if you believe heaven has already decreed that
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your sins are forgiven. Conversely, when a local church
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has to deal with a member who is living in blatant, unrepentant
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sin, and after months of grief, patience and pleading, they have
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to exclude that defiant person from fellowship.
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The Church is using the keys to shut the Kingdom.
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She is publicly affirming what that person's stubborn unbelief
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is already declaring, that based on the Word of God, this person
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is acting like someone who stands outside the Kingdom.
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This completely rebukes the modern evangelical mindset of
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extreme individualism. So many people love to view
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church membership as entirely optional, like a gym
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subscription, and they view any form of church discipline as
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harsh, judgmental, or unloving. But Christ gives these keys for
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the good of souls, to protect the flock, to wake up the
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wandering sheep, and to honor His own holiness.
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After granting this monumental authority to the church, the
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scene closes with verse 20, which contains A deeply
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surprising restriction. After this massive high point,
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the text says, then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no
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one that he was the Christ. Think about how counterintuitive
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that is after this massive revelation from the Father,
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after establishing the bedrock of the church, after giving them
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the keys of the Kingdom and the promise of invincibility.
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Jesus essentially says keep your mails shut.
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This is often referred to by theologians as the Messianic
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secret. But why would he silence them?
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They finally got the answer right.
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It is not out of embarrassment, and it is certainly not out of
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fear of the local authorities. It is an act of sovereign
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wisdom. Jesus is guarding his mission
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against the popular nationalistic expectations of
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the day. 1st century Jewish messianic hope was heavily tied
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to political and military deliverance.
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They wanted a warrior king who would ride into Jerusalem on a
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War Horse, overthrow the Roman occupation, execute Caesar's
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legions, and exalt Israel to global dominance.
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If the disciples ran down the mountain right then and started
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broadcasting He is the Christ, the title would be instantly
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hijacked by the mob. The people would try to seize
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him by force and make him a worldly king, a political
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deliverer, completely distorting the true spiritual nature of his
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rescue mission. They have the right title but
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the wrong dictionary definition. They had to learn that the
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Messiah is in fact the suffering servant.
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Right after this verse. In verse 21, Jesus begins to
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show them the real game plan. He tells them that He must go to
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Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders and chief
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priests, be killed, and on the third day be raised.
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They wanted the crown, but Jesus knew the crown is only reached
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by way of the nails. He restrains the proclamation
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until he can define what the Christ actually means on his own
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terms, terms written in his own blood.
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The disciples could not be trusted to proclaim the Christ
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correctly until they understood the absolute, non negotiable and
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necessity of the cross. So what does this all mean?
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The theological synthesis here is vital for the modern church
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because we make the exact same mistake today.
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A Christ proclaimed without the cross quickly degenerates into a
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customizable therapeutic brand. Without the bloody atonement,
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without the cross, where the wrath of God is satisfied, Jesus
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becomes nothing more than a life coach, a gentle comforter for
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your anxiety, or a political mascot for whatever social
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'cause you care about. The biblical Messiah cannot be
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severed from the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, the one
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who is pierced for our transgressions and crushed for
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our iniquities. The command to silence in
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Matthew 16 was temporary. It was completely lifted after
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the resurrection when Jesus issued the Great Commission to
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go and make disciples of all nations.
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But the enduring lesson for us remains unchanged.
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The church must preach Christ crucified.
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We must never offer the world a shiny, sanitized Messiah who
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does not save sinners by the substitutionary atonement of the
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cross. As we draw this deep dive to a
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close, we need to apply this magnificent truth to your head,
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your heart, and your hands, starting with the head you are
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called to hold fast to a fiercely Orthodox Christology.
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You must stand firm against the shifting sands of modern
25:13
mysticism, which is always looking for new emotional
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revelations apart from the written Scripture.
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And you must stand firm against the seeker sensitive pragmatism
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that treats the church like a corporate business trying to
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attract consumers. You must know intellectually and
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biblically, that Jesus is the ontologically divine Son of the
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living God. He is not just a good moral
25:33
example. He is the Sovereign Lord, and
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His Church is built solely on the truth of His Word.
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Moving to the heart, this passage calls you to replace the
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constant knowing fear of cultural opposition with a
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restful joy in the Savior's absolute sovereignty.
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When you look at the hostility in the world right now, or when
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you see the moral failures and struggles within the visible
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church, you do not need to panic.
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Your security does not rest on the strength of your own faith
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or your ability to figure things out.
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It rests on the invincible promise of the builder who said
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I will build my church. The weary St. can rest
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completely in the reality that their confession of faith was a
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free gift of sovereign grace granted by the Father, and that
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the gates of Hades absolutely cannot prevail against the
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people Christ owns. And finally, your hands.
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This brings us to what Reformed theology calls the third use of
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the law, which is the normative use for believers guiding our
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sanctification. Having been saved entirely by
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grace and having your feet firmly planted on the bedrock of
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Christ, you are called to grateful obedience.
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You are called to exercise the keys of the Kingdom through
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bold, uncompromising witness and active, faithful participation
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in the local church. But hear this clearly.
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You do not work to earn a spot on the bedrock.
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You work from the bedrock. Your obedience is not trying to
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secure God's love. Your obedience is fueled
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entirely by your union with the victorious, resurrected Christ.
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This naturally leads to Saints from the preached word to the
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visible word. The rock of this magnificent
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confession points us directly to the bread of life at the Lord's
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Supper. When the church gathers on the
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Lord's day, we remember that the very same Christ who promised
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invincibility against the gates of Hades is the one whose body
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was broken and whose blood was shed to purchase this very
27:15
assembly. The bread and the wine testified
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to the brutal, necessary atonement that guarantees her
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ultimate victory over the grave. We want to leave you with one
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final striking thought drawn from the historical and
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geographical context we started with.
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Think back to the physical baits of Caesarea Philippi.
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That region was once a terrifying, heavily fortified
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stronghold of Caesar's cult and Pagan idolatry, with its sheer
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Cliff and marble temples that look completely unconquerable to
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the ancient eye. Yet today, those shrines to Pan
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and those monuments to Caesar lie in absolute forgotten ruins.
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Tourists take pictures of the rubble.
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Meanwhile, the assembly that Christ promised to build,
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standing on that very spot amidst those Pagan temples, has
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spanned the entire globe, conquering the grave in every
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generation for 2000 years. The builder is faithful and His
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Church is invincible.