In Matthew 16 Jesus asked his disciples about his identity. Peter answered correctly: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 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 16:16-18).

Their location was important. They were in Caesarea Philippi. That was its Roman name. In Old Testament times the region was called Bashan. As pointed out by scholar Michael Heiser, it was considered the gateway to the dead, or the “gates of hell.” 

Many people believed it was one of the original locations where demons came to desecrate God’s people and his creation. Heiser summarizes: “In a nutshell, in Old Testament times Bashan and Hermon were ground zero for the evil cosmic powers.”*

At this point in the story Jesus and his disciples were most likely in the foothills of Mount Hermon. It had been a centre for worship to false gods and even to the Roman Emperor. Some of these foothills were very rocky, and had openings which looked like a big dark mouth—or, we could say, the “gates of hell or hades.”

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jesus chose this location to ask this question and for Peter to openly declare Jesus’ true identity. I can picture the scene. Jesus took his disciples to ground zero for evil cosmic powers and had them openly declare his identity. It was a battle cry against the powers of darkness. We’re coming for you!

One of the weapons God gives us to beat back the powers of darkness is words. That’s right: words of out loud allegiance to Jesus play an active role in advancing God’s kingdom against the Evil One who is working overtime to steal, kill and destroy.

It’s important to remember in all of this that our enemy is not flesh and blood. It is, as Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12, “the spiritual forces of evil.” One of the weapons God gives us for the battle is words of out loud allegiance to Jesus.

When you sing, confess, read, pray and talk with words of out loud allegiance to Jesus, God is using you as a spiritual weapon of light, of truth, of love, and of holiness. 

If you are in Christ the conqueror, you are his church—and the gates of hell will not overcome.

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Notes:

–“How can our spoken words beat back the powers of darkness?” Click here. Sermon. January 26, 2025.
–*Michael S. Heiser, Supernatural (Lexham: 2015), 112.
–Bible quotes are from the NIV.