Who do people say the Son of Man is?

2nd May, 2006

As part of our pilgrimage tour we were travelling from Cana (Church of the wedding feast) to a place called Caesarea Philippi, about 20 miles North of the Sea of Galilee. To view the ruins of the City of Banyas built by Philip the Tetrarch who named it after the Emperor Caesar Augustus who died in 14 A.D. and himself. He was the son of Herod the Great and it took him from 4 B.C. until his death in 34 A.D. It was about one hour’s drive and we arrived at around noon. Alighting from our coach we proceeded to the entrance where the stream of clean, clear running water came cascading down from higher grounds.

We ascended the slop led by a path towards our right that brought us before a large cave and a large excavation site of archaeological findings. The ruins of the ‘Temple of Pan’ built before the cave entrance, against the backdrop of a gigantic wall of rock 300ft high and running 500ft long. It is part of the southern foothills of Mount Hermon. There were fishes swimming about and some heading upstream.There was this contraption with an spherical concrete base like a ‘top’ with an iron pole running through it’s centre for a hand-grip.On it’s concrete base is ‘embossed’ the wordings taken from Matthew’s Gospel. If you hold the pole and roll the inverted spherical base it will imprint Matthew’s text on the loose sand.

The cave and ruins at Caesarea Philippi.

Placard giving historical information.

The archaeological site with ruins of the Temple

Matt 16:13-20 (Peter’s profession of faith). Quote from Jerusalem Bible.

’When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say of the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets’, ‘But you,’ he said’ who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said,’Son of the living God. Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it is not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you; you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven. Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

Remember Christ is a Jew and he spoke Aramaic, the local language and Matthew wrote his Gospel originally in Aramaic intended for the Jewish Community. Christ chose Simon alone, whom he named ‘Peter’ to be the ‘rock’ of his church. The Aramaic word for rock is ‘Kaypha’ in which he used; so the early church was founded upon Peter, who fixed his Chair in Rome. And the Roman Empire was the World at that time with it’s great vastness extended from Britain in the North, to Egypt in the South, Portugal in the West to Persia in the East. Rome the Capital had become the centre of civilisation and culture and all roads lead to Rome. So Peter established the ‘Mother Church’ there which has become the root of Catholicism.

For the first 1,000 years of Christianity, there was only one church “Catholic’ meaning ‘Universal’. It was at Antioch that for the first time converts were called ‘Christians’. As the Church spread, Greek language soon took over as common usage; owing to Hellenisation as result of conquest made by ‘Alexander the Great’. Aramaic was spoken only by the Jews, whereas Greek could be understood by many; was the ‘lingua franca’ of the time. Thus the books of the New Testament were eventually written in Greek. Since 3rd century after the persecution when Christianity was accepted; Latin became the official language of the Catholic Church. And Pope Damasus commissioned Jerome to translate the Bible into Latin (the ‘Vulgate’) in which the linguist took 35 years to complete. In early times the Bible had to be hand-written, a slow, pains-taking, labouring process with limited circulation to churches and monasteries. For an ordinary person to own one would be beyond his means and also a vast majority of the population, farmers working on their lands were illiterate and therefore could not read. It was only with the introduction of the printing press in the 15th century that Johannes Gutenburg, the Catholic inventor printed the first book, the ‘Bible’ and it was in Latin. From then progressively the Bible became widely available and affordable.

Then came the ‘East/West Schism in the year 1054 when the churches split between the Latin-rites Roman (Western) Church and the Eastern-rites Byzantine/Greek-speaking Orthodox Church. Their disagreement besides ‘doctrine’ on Christology but also on the supreme authority of the pope. Sadly it could not be resolved and there was no reconciliation but instead followed by mutual ex-communication of each other. Soon came Martin Luther in 1517 when he broke away to form the ‘Reformation (Protestant) church’. Henry VIII King of England also broke away not because of doctrine; for earlier Pope Leo X had confer upon him the title of ‘Fedei Defensor’ (Defender of Faith) for writing a treatise against Marin Luther defending the 7 Sacraments and the supremacy of the pope. However the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catharine of Aragon as he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn. Finally Henry established his National ‘Church of England’ and became the head.

To-day the Catholic Church comprises of one Roman (Western) and 22 Eastern Catholic Churches that are in communion with Rome. The Catholic Church is Apostolic, built on a lasting foundation: ‘the twelve apostles of the Lamb’ (Rev 21:14, The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the lamb. Eph 2:20 You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone). She is indestructible (Matt 16:18) and upheld infallibly in the truth (1Tim 3:15) 'I wanted you to know how people ought to behave in God's family - that is, in the Church of the living God which upholds the truth and keeps it safe'.

Christ governs his church through Peter and the other apostles who are present in their successors, the pope and the college of bishops. Imagine from only 12 apostles it has grown to enormous proportion to the present Catholic population of 1.13 billion, however for the first time, Islam have overtaken Catholicism with 1.5 billion.

In Matthew’s Gospel when Christ changed Simon name to Peter (‘Rock’), he gave him the ‘keys’ to his kingdom, with the divine power to bind and to loose. “Keys’ symbolise authority as used in the Old Testament in (Is 22:22, Rev 1.18) from ancient times to the present day; to be given the key to the city meant to be given free access to and authority over the city.

Christ had given his authority, protection and assurance; that the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. In Matt 28:18-20 ‘He said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ‘Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; to the end of time.’

However, he also predicted the manner of death Peter would encounter. According to Catholic tradition Peter was crucified in Rome during persecution by Emperor Nero around 65 A.D. He chose to be hung upside as he felt unfit to die like his Master. His body was taken by the faithful and buried at a nearby cemetery (Catacomb).

Statue of St. Peter holding the ‘key’

So the path to the his kingdom can be rough and crooked as John the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus, the ‘Voice in the Wilderness’ preaching and calling the people to repent. He was preparing the way to make the path straight, valleys be filled, mountains and hills made low. Everything crooked made straight; the rough paths made smooth.

The followers of Jesus, his apostles and disciples were martyred, starting with Stephen the first to be stoned to death outside the Lion’s Gate (Jerusalem) renamed St Stephen’s Gate. Peter crucified up-side down and Paul, a Roman citizen suffers less humiliation by beheading; both died in Rome. James the leader of the Jerusalem Church was martyred being thrown down from the Temple Mount. Andrew crucified at Patras in Achaia, Philip crucified in Phrygia, Simon the Zealot martyred in Persia as was Jude. Luke the Evangelist died at the beginning of the 2nd century in Thebes and Mark in Egypt and his body smuggled to Venice and entombed in St. Mark’s Basilica. Finally was left John who fortunately died of old age at Ephesus.

Who is this man called Jesus the Nazarene?

He did not have the military might

Nor any political power,

Never wrote down anything,

Travelled only a few miles around Galilee.

His own Jews were against him,

The Romans crucified him, nailed him to the cross.

His disciples deserted him,

When dead he was taken down and laid in somebody else's tomb,

Yet till this-day after more than more 2000 years, he left behind the legacy of tremendous impact whose influence effecting more than 1/6 of mankind that inhabit the world. And conversion continues everyday.

The same question Jesus is asking us, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?

Running aground

In 1974 the firm of ‘Sudoimport’ the marketing arm of USSR shipped out to Singapore a hydrofoil-motorship type ‘Kometa-M’ for purposes of demonstration. The 35m long ocean-going vessel could carry 102 passengers in air-conditioned comfort. The ‘M’ series denotes a ‘tropicalise version’ intended for use particularly in the warm tropical climate of South East Asia. The hull, superstructure are built of an aluminum-magnesium alloy and the foil system comprises of two large major stainless steel lifting foils; one fore and the other aft with a midship foil and stabiliser behind the fore foil. The sailing range without replenishing of bunkers is 240miles and sailing only in daylight hours; that is it must reach it’s port of destination before sunset. The mother ship was a large bulk-carrier named ‘Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya’ assigned to take her placed upon her main deck and securely lashed down.

11th July/ Thursday. ‘Kometa-M’ already discharged from mother-ship and in port, lying berth at godown No.48 Keppel Harbour. So I skippered our own company’s smaller 6-seater hydrofoil-boat type ‘Volga-70’ to the larger hydrofoil vessel. My ‘Volga-70’ has 8.55m in length and 2.1m breadth. It was powered by Swedish- made single Volvo-penta inboard/outdrive diesel engine of 90hp driving a top speed of 30knots. The range without re-fuelling about 120miles.

'Volga-70' 6-seater hydrofoil-boat at high speed.

1430Hrs: The Port Authority ‘Keppel Control’ had been notified by ‘Kometa’ VHF Radio that we would be leaving berth for approximately a 2-hour sea-trial and to report on returning. We received ‘radio clearance’ through VHF and left for the Eastern Roadstead. We were trailing behind with onboard the director of Soviet Cinema, a cameraman and 2nd Engineer.


Just outside of the breakwater’ mole at that time known as ‘outer roads’ the ‘Kometa’ made several runs for our cameraman before breaking off and heading for our next shooting destination at the Raffles Lighthouse located south of Pulau Senang. There we positioned ourselves in between near ‘Selat Biola’ The photography intended to capture the scenic view of a tiny island of swaying palms with the lighthouse in the background.

So the ‘run’ was a straight course from a point tip of Pulau Senang to Raffles Lighthouse, keeping clear of ‘Pemalang Reef’ on her portside. We were in the outer position and the run to be made in the middle between the reef and us. Anyway the ‘Kometa’ is equipped with modern navigation-aids,with radar, depth-sounder to ensure safe passage, all cramped in their aircraft-like ‘cock-pit’ wheel-house.

The initial runs were smooth and without any hitch, the two powerful 1,000hp diesel engines driving her at top speed around 30-33knots, her hull raised up and her foils skimming over the water surface. The cameraman went about his job shooting many photos. ‘Kometa’ would make a ‘U’ turn upon end of the run just before Raffles Light-house for the return run. However the director of film was not satisfied and wanted more closer shot with the light-house in background. I sounded the alarm of the risk as it would narrow down the path but he was insistent. He was a film man not a navigator and more immerged in the making of ‘good photography than that of safety and so my warning fell upon deaf ears.

'Kometa-M’ at top speed before Raffles Light-house.

We moved forward for closer ‘shot’ and stopped with engine running idling and in ‘neutral’ mode. The action of the current could have drifted us nearer towards the reef, thereby even narrowing the passage-way. For the next run, ‘Kometa’ came bearing down at top speed towards Raffles passing us from the inside without any mishap and speeded away. Suddenly further down there was a loud sound of crashing, she swerved violently portside in a complete circle, facing us again; engines went ‘dead’ Whoops!. We were shocked, stunt, speechless at what had happened, especially for the director who had been insistent.

As we rushed to the stricken “Kometa’ the master appeared at the starboard wing. He was up-set and grumbling in Russian, saying how come we did not know it was shallow. Obviously it was an navigational error, human mistake in plotting. I put the cameraman on board and ascertained from the master that nobody injured.

Then I proceeded to Raffles Light-house and to report of the grounding and relay the message to the Port Master.


Kometa high and dry,grounded at Pemalang Reef

Meantime master had informed the Port Operation Control by VHF radio of the mishap and that nobody injured. At that instant no assistance required and that they would wait for ‘high’ tide to re-float the vessel. The master also informed our Sinsov (Singapore Soviet Shipping Co. Ltd) Director Mr.Makarov, who immediately rushed down. As usual after such incident people were looking for a ‘scape goat’ and the accusing finger pointing to me. Of course I rebutted the accusation on ground how ridiculous it can be. As each of us as master/skipper of our respective craft is fully responsible basically to have sufficient depth of water to be able to float safely through. And it was his vessel running aground and not mine. More over the ‘Kometa’ is fully equipped with modern navigational aids, whereas on mine there was nothing no radar or depth-sounder. Also he is a Master Mariner with abundant years of sailing experiences, should have known better. In general light-houses symbolise danger indicating shallowness, the existence of reef or rocks above or around submerged, to stay alert and exercise caution.

For the time being we kept ‘mum’ and not spreading the bad news. I was sailing back our base at Kallang. However halfway at the water-boat channel we met an approaching boat named ‘Baracuda’ conveying our director Makarov, Jimmy our manager and boarding officers. They were on the way on fact-finding and to access the extent of damage and that of recovery.

After several attempts by master to re-float ‘Kometa’ at high tide failed, even with the assistance of a tug-boat to tow her off the reef. The stricken vessel on high and dry with not enough water for floatation. There were no alternative but to call in the professionals, the salvage people by the name of ‘Selco’. They brought in their big floating-crane and simply lifted up the ‘Kometa’ from the reef. Lowered to the deeper water and towed back to the yard for repairs.

Finally ‘Selco’ floating crane lifted ‘Kometa’ from the reef

Seen here ‘Kometa’  high and dry, sitting on it's specially-built cradle which was brought along for repairs. It came under the supervision of 'Det Norske Veritas' on behalf of USSR Class Registrar. The surveyor had to ascertain that all being complied that is required in order that "class' is restored and sea-worthiness retained.