Jesus had been to the towns and villages “throughout all Galilee,” doing great miracles for all and teaching the people. He had been to Tyre and Sidon, on the Mediterranean Sea, and also to the country east and south of Galilee (Mark 1:39; 7:24, 3139And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils. (Mark 1:39)
24And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. (Mark 7:24)
31And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. (Mark 7:31)). His visits south to Judea and going through Samaria are also described (John 4:3434Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. (John 4:34)).
Here it is written that Jesus and the disciples started to the country north of Galilee to the towns of Caesarea Philippi, about twenty-five miles from the Sea of Galilee. That was near Mt. Hermon and was in the borderland of the nation of Israel when they first had the country in early times (Josh. 11:1717Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them. (Joshua 11:17)).
Complete Service
This shows us how Jesus went to all parts of the land of Israel, everywhere doing good to so many and telling God’s words. All peoples of the land must have heard of Him. They were people who knew the writings of the prophets, of a Holy One to come to earth. They should have understood by the great miracles and wise answers and teachings of Jesus that He fulfilled all the promises.
On their walk to the northern border, Jesus and the disciples were, perhaps, more away from others, and Jesus asked them, “Whom do men say that I am?”
The sad answer to his question was that people thought He must be a prophet, not that He could be the promised Messiah.
Then Jesus asked the disciples, “Whom say ye that I am?”
It was Peter who answered, and he said, “Thou art the Christ.” That meant the Messiah, the One anointed and sent by God, as told in their Scriptures (See Matthew 16:1616And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:16); John 1:41; 6:6941He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. (John 1:41)
69And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. (John 6:69)).
The disciples then fully believed that Jesus would be their great King, but Jesus knew He would be refused as the Messiah and King, and He began to explain to the disciples what would be done to Him.
Rejected Not Accepted
He said that He “must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”
Peter did not think that the Lord would be so treated or that He should say this. Yet that was also what the prophets had written — that the Holy One would be led “as a lamb to the slaughter,” be “stricken,” and “bare the sin of many” (Isaiah 53).
He asked the people, who were then listening, this question: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
“What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Not to believe the Lord Jesus is the One who suffered for our sins is to lose our soul, and the things gained while in this world would be lost.
Further Meditation
1. What made it so hard for the disciples to understand that the Lord was going to be crucified?
2. What other prophecies show that the Lord was going to be rejected?
3. A beautiful type of the rejected Christ can be found in Joseph: Revealer of Secrets, Saviour of the World by H. Smith.