When I was a small boy growing up in Michigan I remember following my father out to our detached garage in the winter. The snow was too deep for my short legs to plow through, so I made my way across the yard by putting my feet in his bootprints, clumsily jumping from step to step.

Our time in Caesarea today could be described in a similar manner. We were like children following from step to step of a minister of the gospel much greater than ourselves, tracing the steps of the apostle Paul as we listened to the Scripture and reflected on his life and ministry. I wish, like my boyhood memory, that it had also been winter! But instead it was actually another scorcher of a day and we were in the direct sunlight for most of it. I am now officially sunburned and my sandals have turned my feet into red and white stripes. Still, the heat could not parch our spirits, as we made our way through Caesarea almost giddy with fascination at this epoch site.

I should start by telling you just a little bit about Caesarea. This is a city that Herod the Great built in 21 BC on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, with innovative genius, he actually built some of it in the sea. The engineers sunk great barges filled with a concrete-like mixture into the harbor as platforms for building. When finished, the city with its palace was a magnificent and beautiful architectural triumph, situated on the beautiful, deep blue waters of the Mediterranean.

And this city had to be impressive, because Herod’s life was actually on the line. You see, Herod had been a loyal friend to Marc Antony, so when Antony lost to Caesar Augustus in the naval battle of Actium (the famous battle where Antony and Cleopatra faced off against Augustus and lost in 31 BC), Herod suddenly found himself on the wrong side of history. But Herod was cunning and resourceful. He saved his neck from execution by ingratiating himself to Caesar and promising to honor him and give him loyal service.

Caesar Augustus accepted Herod’s humility and gave him a chance to prove himself. So Herod set to work building a magnificent city that he named in honor of Caesar. He named it “Caesarea.”

I wish we could have seen Caesarea in all its glory! But the city is so well excavated that we could easily use our imaginations. When Caesar Augustus sailed into the harbor, the first thing that would have met his eyes was a grand and beautiful temple dedicated to him as a god.

In the picture above, imagine that the green grass is the Mediterranean Sea, because the water originally came up to that spot. Approaching this entrance, the passengers would have beheld a great staircase (overlaid here) and above it a vast imperial temple with a statue of Caesar Augustus. Some say that the statue was made of gold so that it appeared to reflect the light. Either way, citizens and visitors alike would have stepped off the boat and walked up the stairs to the temple to worship Caesar and to make sacrifices to him. The rest of the city would have been equally impressive. Flavius Josephus describes this city in great detail, in fact. It was a matrix of impressive homes and shops, baths with heated water, a grand theater, a hippodrome with stables on the side for horse racing (think Ben-Hur), and columned public buildings, and an aqueduct system providing running water.

It appears that Caesar Augustus was indeed impressed with this proof of Herod’s loyalty and honor of him. Granted, the Jews were not happy with him about this. To build this city with all of its functioning, pagan Roman features, especially a temple to worship the emperor caused them to severely question Herod’s loyalty and honor of God himself. It caused great civil unrest throughout his reign. But Caesarea was also a cash cow, especially from the money coming in from the temple, and Herod used this money to fund other great building projects especially in Jerusalem. With the funds he raised from Caesarea, in fact, he renovated the Jerusalem temple to make it even more astounding. Even today at the Western Wall of the temple you can see the kinds of huge marble stones that have the distinctive design that Herod’s buildings were known for.

The palace was so magnificent it is hard for me to believe its description. It was thrust out over the water and had a swimming pool on the bottom level. Attached to the palace was the praetorium, or the working government headquarters where affairs of state were discussed and cases were heard. Think of a large hall with rooms all around it designed for various use.

Underneath this praetorium, discovered only within the last year was a prison system where special prisoners were kept, such as those awaiting trial.

Now you have enough to go on. When Herod died in 4 BC and his son, Herod Archelaus proved to be an incompetent ruler over Jerusalem and Judea in his place, the Roman government recalled him and sent in a governor to ruler in his place. This governor probably didn’t want to go to Jerusalem. It was an obscure, out of the way place compared to the central workings of the Roman empire. But as compensation this governor got to live in the palace and stay in Caesarea most of the time. In other words, in AD 6, the government of the region moved its seat to Caesarea.

You all know by name one of the most famous governors to live in Caesarea: Pontius Pilate! He became governor around AD 26, and he would come down to Jerusalem to preside over the city personally whenever there was something big going down, like the Passover.

In Caesarea was found the only inscription bearing Pilate’s name, seen below. The second full line is all that is left of the Latin “PONTIUS PILATUS.”

Another reason to remember Caesarea has to do with Herod’s grandson, Herod Agrippa. This Herod is the ruler of the Jews in Acts 12, for instance, who killed James the apostle of Jesus with the sword (Acts 12:2). The Jews were so pleased by this that he decided to arrest Peter and make an example of him also the next day (12:3–5). This is when Peter was rescued by an angel in the middle of the night and went and interrupted his church who was praying for him.

At the end of that chapter, a host of people gather together to seek Herod’s favor and have peace with him over some issue. Josephus tells us that they gathered to have an audience with Herod in the theater in Caesarea, which makes perfect sense. Herod would have been living there and they would need the theater to hold a vast number of people.

But when Herod put on his robes and sat down before them, they were crying out, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” (Acts 12:22). Herod accepted this worship from the people, and it angered the Lord, who struck him down, “and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last” (12:23).

So at the beginning of Acts 12, Herod kills James and intends to do the same to Peter, which would have greatly taken the wind out of the sails of the church. But by the end of Acts 12, Herod is judged, and “The word of God increased and multiplied” (12:24). What a great commentary on the power of God to advance his gospel! Here in this great city which was built to honor a man as a god, the Lord judges the man who tries to become the Lord over his church to destroy it.

(BTW … if you look closely, you can see the natural gas platform out in the Mediterranean, and if you look much closer, to the right of that platform you can see an Israeli warship guarding it. This natural gas platform is one of the primary targets in case of a missile attack.)

We stood in this very theater, on the spot where Herod was judged, and read Acts 12. And we walked around the theater getting a perspective from every angle.

As you can see, this theater is still in operation (which is common for these theaters–they’re still great venues!). In fact, there was a huge concert here back in November where they gathered 1000 musicians and vocalists, young and old, to perform and call for the hostages to be brought home from Gaza.

But Josephus says that Herod was all lit up by the sun shining on his robes that were woven with silver, and that is one of the reasons the people started shouting that he seemed like a god. So, standing there on the stage we realized that this must have been a meeting in the early morning. Around 10 am or so, the bright morning sun would have crested over the edge of the theater and shone directly on Herod at center stage.

So, you’re wondering what happened to walking in the steps of Paul! Well, you remember that this is the place Paul was taken for safety after he was arrested in Jerusalem following his third missionary journey. Sometimes in tourist places in Israel you are told that Jesus or Paul or someone did this or that in a certain location, and you’re a little skeptical that we can really know the exact spot. Well, there’s no question in this case. We stood in the very prison complex where the apostle Paul was kept in Caesarea.

The excavation here is so new here, that they still have equipment and tools lying around as they finish up the dig.

During Paul’s stay, he was questioned multiple times by the governors and other royalty at this place. He would be brought up from the prison below and stand in the room where they would have hearings and make judgments.

Felix was governor at that time (Pilate was long gone by then), so Paul first gave a defense before him. Acts 24:24–27 says that Felix and his wife Drusilla listened often to Paul speak about his faith in Jesus and about “righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment.” And Felix apparently had several meetings with him. And it also appears in that chapter that they trusted Paul not to flee the premises, so it seems that he had a little freedom to leave the prison below and take in the sights of Caesarea from time to time. He may have walked down to enjoy the cool water as we also did.

(Fun fact, but sad: when Felix and Drusilla left the governorship in Caesarea she wanted to live in the glorious city of Pompeii, so they moved there and died in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.)

Festus was appointed governor after Felix (Acts 25), so the Jews tried again to have Paul charged and condemned. So Paul presented his case before Festus. The Jews were trying to trick Festus into sending Paul to Jerusalem for a trial, but Paul knew they were going to kill him on the way. That’s why he said, in effect, “I’m a Roman citizen and no one but Caesar has the right to try me. I appeal to Caesar’s court!”

Paul didn’t want to do that, likely. But he did it to escape the hands of the Jews. He appealed to “Caesar” in “Caesarea”! When Agrippa visited Festus in Acts 25:13–26:32, no doubt to see how he was doing in his new post as governor, Festus said, “There’s this strange man we have imprisoned and I don’t know what to do with him. He doesn’t seem to be any trouble ….” So Paul was able to lay out his case before Agrippa who said, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” Paul answered, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become as I am.” And then, looking down at his bonds he added, “Except for these chains!” (Acts 26:28–29).

Once again, we were able to stand in the steps of Paul, now as he made his several defenses before the Roman rulers.

And let’s not forget about Luke! He was with Paul in Caesarea. Judah said that he wondered if Luke would have been composing some of Acts while Paul was confined there, and that makes a lot of sense. He may have visited Paul in the prison several times a week, reading the text, checking details with him. Then Luke accompanied Paul to Rome. When it came time for Paul and Luke to sail to Rome, they left from the port that I said earlier that people would sail into and see the temple first thing. But even here we were walking in his steps, as we made our way through the first-century opening that led out to the harbor. It was set up with several artifacts of the period discovered at Caesarea.

Well, it had been a long but fulfilling day at this site. And we could have stayed longer. Much longer. There are ruins of a Jewish synagogue that we only saw from a distance, and as part of the experience we could have snorkeled in the harbor and seen the structures immersed in the sea. (But Judah says we will snorkel tomorrow … I won’t tell you where just yet, but I’m really pumped about it 🙂  Judah also says I shouldn’t say “pumped up,” because no one says that anymore. So I’ll say “amped” up for you younger folks.)

But we had to leave in time to get back to Be’er Sheva because we were meeting with members of Judah’s church for a Bible study. We got stuck in some traffic on the way back, so Judah had to drive like Jehu across the desert to get there, and we didn’t have time to go back to his place and clean up. And I had walked in the Mediterranean and got hit with a few waves so I was still damp. But gathering together with these believers from all over the world, at least one of them newly saved, was a real treat. There was Sagi from Israel and his wife, Christine, from India, who are expecting their first child at the end of this month; Wei from China; Estafania from Mexico City; David a pastor from Seoul, South Korea, who is leaving on Thursday to oversee his father’s churches for a time in a couple of Russian territories (he grew up in Russia); Jane, a South Korean from Seattle, who is writing a fascinating dissertation on the Talmud’s reception in Korea; Abraham from Nigeria, who studies bio-mechanical engineering and has just had a paper published; Katalina from Albania; and you know those other white guys. All of these are doctoral students at various stages of their programs at Ben Gurion University.

We shared a meal together sitting around the living room of Abaham’s tiny, rented apartment. Then we sang together and prayed and began to study Matthew 26:57–75. This is the passage where Jesus is on trial before the Sanhedrin, and Peter is outside the house denying that he even knows Jesus. What a gift from the Lord to study this passage on this occasion with these believers whom the Lord has brought together from all over the world, and who the Lord is sending to various places of the world as his witnesses. Earlier in the day we stood where Paul had been on trial and gave clear and bold evidence of his solidarity with Jesus of Nazareth. But in Matthew 26 we see Peter denying he even knows Jesus, though at that very moment Jesus, on trial, was beginning his passion on Peter’s behalf. But then we reflected on the fact that it was only the grace and strength of Jesus that gave Paul the courage he needed to stand for Christ. And it was only after Jesus had restored Peter on the shores of Galilee and gave him the Spirit that he was able to boldly preach Christ in the middle a crowded Jerusalem street and see men and women powerfully come to Christ.

These students know what it is to live in a country where they are surrounded by people who do not know Christ, who live as if on trial every day for being a Christian. In Abraham’s case the situation is shockingly harsh. He comes from a place in Nigeria where it is not uncommon for some violent Muslim groups to kill Christians. They will stop busses and make all of the Muslims stand on one side and the Christians on the other, and kill the Christians. This past Christmas Eve, in fact, a group of Muslim men entered a village and murdered any Christians they found who were worshiping. This is for real. And in the knowledge of that kind of a world that many of these men and women know they will face, it was humbling to hear them pray for one another for safety and boldness. And before we left the meeting we prayed especially for David, who confessed his feeling of helplessness in being strong enough to minister to the Russian-speaking churches.

So it was absolutely amazing to walk in Paul’s footsteps for the better part of the day. But it was humbling and sobering to unite with these believers who are also walking in Paul’s steps in a significant way. It was a needed reminder to us that these things are true because we are all–Paul, Peter, and us–called to walk in the footsteps of the one who died and rose again and gives us life each day.