Caesarea - back to my spiritual roots

Whenever you travel in Israel you imagine that you are walking where Jesus walked.  But that's not necessarily so.  Acording to scripture, Jesus never visited the city of Caesarea.  It was a Roman city, the capital of Judea in Jesus' time, located on the western shore of Israel. It was constructed on such a magnificent plan that it was frequently called "Little Rome." Today the ruins are awesome. This is the amphitheatre. Here archaeologists found stone inscribed with the name of Pilate, the first time such an inscription was ever uncovered.

Caesarea has a special significance for me, and for all gentile believers.  Acts 10 tells us the story of Roman Centurion named Cornelius who lived here. He was a God-fearer and a man of good works. One day an angel appeared to him and told him he should send to Joppa for a man named Peter. When Peter arrived, the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his whole household, and the rest is history.  The Gospel had come to the Gentiles!

 
The flat sandy place in the above picture is the ruin of the Roman Hippodrome, where horse and chariot races were held.  Gladiator games would also be held here.  In the early days of the church, when there was persecution, this is where Christian would have faced the lions.

Peter is not the only apostle who is connected to Caesarea. This is the ruin of the pillars and patio of the palace of Governor Felix.  Paul was held prisoner for two years in this palace, and regularly preached before Felix, his successor Festus, King Agrippa and Queen Beatrice.
Philip the Evangelist also lived in this city.  Excavations in modern times uncovered the pavement of a Jewish synagogue - possible the one, or the successor to the one in which Cornelius, Philip, Peter and Paul visited.

The city was built by Herod the Great (the Herod of the nativity) between 25 B.C. and 13 B.C.  Herod had a vision of a magnificent harbour, so a massive building project, including an elaborate stone breakwater was undertaken. Herod named the city after Caesar Augustus, his patron. It soon became a busy seaport and great commercial center. In the distance here is the ruin of the lighthouse.  It was from this harbor that Paul sailed for Rome.



Beside the Mediterraean Sea at Caesarea

When I was travelling in Israel I was often reminded of my "otherness".  I was very conscious that I was a Gentile.  It was good for me to be in Caesarea, and to be reminded that God loves the Gentiles, and that He grafted us into His family.  Cornelius was the first of a long line of Gentile seekers who found the Savior. And I am one of them.