Caesarea Philippi is located in the Golan Heights, which is the northeastern part of the modern state of Israel. Today, the area is a beautiful park, visited by many nature lovers. Within the park stands a group of ancient Roman ruins, the remnants of temples dedicated to various gods revered in Greco-Roman culture. Among these temples was one honoring the Emperor Augustus, who had founded the Roman Empire and was worshipped as divine.
At the time of Christ, the Jewish people, like many other nations, lived under Roman occupation. Throughout the New Testament, we see a contrast between the reign of Christ and Roman imperial power. The Gospel of Mark starts with the words "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1). At first sight, we might gloss over this sentence as just a chapter heading. But, as we shall see, each word is full of deep meaning. The use of the word "beginning" invokes the first words of Genesis, "In the beginning" (Genesis 1:1), the words that introduce the account of creation. Mark is subtly implying that what we are about to read, the coming of Christ among us, is as important as God's act of creation. In the New Testament, the life-giving order created by Christ is set in contrast with the oppressive order brought about by the Roman Empire.
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