Break Down Your Gates of Hell
Twenty-five miles away from the Jewish worship communities of God is Caesarea Philippi. There is a large cliff there with a cave at its base that, at the time of Jesus, flowed with water from a spring. This cliff became the center of worship for a Greek god named Pan. And the followers of Pan built shrines and temples into this cliff to honor and worship him.
Those who worshiped Pan believed that the gods dwelled in the water under the earth during the winter and returned to the surface by way of the water in this cave during the spring. They believed that this opening (spring) was the (Pu li Ha doo) gate of the unseen, translated as "gates of Hades" (hah-dace) or "gates of hell" in English. The worship of Pan included sexual acts with prostitutes and between humans and goats, which they believed would entice the gods to enter through the mouth of the spring and fulfill the desires of the worshipers.
It is here at this gate of pagan gods, where worshipers are committing unthinkable sins, that Jesus tells Peter in the presence of the other disciples, "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" (Matthew 16:18). In essence Jesus is saying “My church will be built on the foundation of the lost, bringing them into the Kingdom. Even these Pan worshipers can be saved; even those who most people would not even dare look at can enter the kingdom of heaven.”
We all have gates of hell; places where we go and entice our selfish desires to surface. Jesus not only commissioned his followers to storm the gates of the Pan worshipers, but he bids us all to go to our own places of ungodly worship and break down our own gates of hell.
Forever learning,
Johnny
6 comments:
Matthew 16:18 says, "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 really wanted to look up the passage you wrote but I think you referenced the wrong verse.
Could you let me know where I can find that?
Thanks, Kathy.
I meant to say (My Paraphrase) after the passage, and forgot to write it.
When Jesus says, "on this rock" and "the gates of Hades will not overcome it," he is saying "Even this sinful place and these sinful people will not overcome the power of the Gospel.
There are many opinions as to what "on this rock" means, therefore, a closer look at the place of Caesarea Philippi gives many clues to the meaning of the passage. The place of Pan worship was built on a giant rock or cliff, which makes it very possible, according to some textual scholars, that Jesus was not necessarily pointing to Peter, but to this place called "the gates of Hades."
On the other hand, God often called those whom he began a movement with "rocks."
It's possible that this is a double meaning.
Johnny
To get more in depth on this subject check out www.followtherabbi.com, click on "Faith Lessons," and then click on "Caesarea Philippi."
Hey there, Ithink you chose the wrong verse.try to find the real one .
regards Biby - Blog
Thank you Kathy and Biby,
I have revised the blog for clarification.
It's all good.
We can just call it "The Gospel according to Johnny"
Post a Comment