Not to be confused with the more inland Caeserea Philippi or the Greek city of Philippi, Caeserea was the home of one of Herod the Great's many palaces. Built on a grand scale, the harbor extended out into the sea through an ingenious use of concrete that hardened under water.
It was one of the most significant seaports of the eastern Mediterranean.
The apostle Paul may have been imprisoned here for a time and very likely set sail for some of his journeys from this port.
Because of that, I've always thought on my trips to Israel (which typically BEGIN with a visit to Caeserea and END at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem) that the trip to Caeserea should come at the very conclusion of our tour - the last thing we see.
Once again I stood in the harbor last week and looked out west across the Mediterranean, imagining Paul setting sail for Greece or Italy or other parts in order to spread the Gospel of Christ.
Jesus told His disciples that He would make them 'fishers of people' if they would follow Him.
I doubt they had any idea what that meant when He said it to them. They were used to catching fish. How do you catch 'people?'
Truthfully, none of the disciples of Jesus were very good at it at the beginning, but by the end, Andrew and Peter, James and John and a whole bunch more had become just that ... fishers of people. So had a tax collector ... so had a prostitute ... so had a woman who'd been married five times ... so had a guy who'd been afflicted with demons ... so had a blind man ... so had a guy who'd previously persecuted Christians.
Eventually many of them got into boats at places just like Caeserea and set out to tell others about Jesus - who told others about Jesus - who told others about Jesus - who told others - who told others - who told others - who told others ---- until somebody told you.
Fortunately for us, none of those folks thought religion was private or quiet. Personal, yes; private, no. They believed it was something you talked about. And because they were willing to set out across the waters way back when and talk about it, here we are now - 2,000 years later - with a living faith in our hearts.
And now ... Jesus is calling us to get in our own 'boats' and sail across our own 'personal seas' and become fishers of people.
He says: 'Follow Me and I'll make you fishers ... I'll leverage everything I've placed in your life for My glory - your personality - your experiences - your heart and passion - your abilities - your giftings -- I'll use them all to perfectly position you in your neighborhood and in your job -- to fish.'
We were all fish once. Get sailing.
And be blessed.
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