Greatness: Matthew 14-20Sample

Imagine you were a movie director and you had to depict evil in a place, how would you do it?

The lighting might be shadowy and dark. There might be questionable people lurking around. The soundtrack might be something haunting, with a sense of danger in the air.

This is the type of environment that Jesus and the disciples find themselves in at Caesarea Philippi, which was renowned as a place of pagan worship.

Jesus brings His disciples here and asks them an incredibly important question: “Who do you say I am?” It is a question we all need to answer. Peter gives the right answer, stating that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus responds, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18, ESV).

Jesus could have said this anywhere, but He chose a place that resembled the “gates of hell” to declare His victory over evil.

Jesus shows no fear being there as He teaches the disciples about the power of God. I wonder if, many years later while enduring persecution themselves, the disciples remembered Jesus proclaiming in this dark place that the gates of hell would not overcome His church. I can imagine this memory would have emboldened them, as it should for us today.

Today, ponder this: Who do you say Jesus is? How will Jesus’ victory over evil and darkness shape the way you live today?