I was profoundly impacted by The Chosen‘s presentation of Peter’s confession (Season 4, Episode 2):

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16.13 – 18, ESV)

This fits with our readings in 2 Kings. Caesarea Philippi is not far from the city of Dan where Jeroboam set up the golden calves. Here are excerpts from That the World May Know website, which The Chosen episode depicted exactly.

Caesarea Philippi, which stood in a lush area near the foot of Mount Hermon, was a city dominated by immoral activities and pagan worship. Caesarea Philippi stood only twenty-five miles from the religious communities of Galilee. But the city’s religious practices were vastly different from those of the nearby Jewish towns.

In Old Testament times, the northeastern area of Israel became a center for Baal worship. In the nearby city of Dan, Israelite king Jeroboam built the high place that angered God and eventually led the Israelites to worship false gods. Eventually, worship of the Baals was replaced with worship of Greek fertility gods...Years later, when Romans conquered the territory, Herod Philip rebuilt the city and named it after himself. But Caesarea Philippi continued to focus on worship of Greek gods. In the cliff that stood above the city, local people built shrines and temples to Pan.

Here’s an artist’s rendition, very similar to what I saw on The Chosen:

Picture from Caesarea Philippi: The Gates of Hell Will Not Prevail by Donna Gawell. Another good article saying essentially the same thing as Ray Vander Laan, whose article continues:

Interestingly, Jesus chose to deliver a sort of “graduation speech” to his disciples at Caesarea Philippi. In that pagan setting, he encouraged his disciples to build a church that would overcome the worst evils…

The pagans of Jesus’ day commonly believed that their fertility gods lived in the underworld during the winter and returned to earth each spring. They saw water as a symbol of the underworld and thought that their gods traveled to and from that world through caves. To the pagan mind, then, the cave and spring water at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld. They believed that their city was literally at the gates of the underworld: the gates of hell...

When Jesus brought his disciples to the area, they must have been shocked. Caesarea Philippi was like a red-light district in their world and devout Jews would have avoided any contact with the despicable acts committed there...

Jesus presented a clear challenge with his words at Caesarea Philippi: He didn’t want his followers hiding from evil: He wanted them to storm the gates of hell...

Jesus continued, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16.18, ESV)

I wrote back in 2022 that we get this verse backwards, especially the part about “the gates of Hell not overcoming the church.” The church isn’t huddled up on defense against the attacks of Hell. It’s the other way around.

I’m not alone: here’s how the Ray Vander Laan concludes:

But Jesus challenged his followers to be on the offense: to proclaim the truth without shame.

Our schools and churches should become staging areas rather than fortresses; places that equip God’s people to confront a sinful world instead of hiding from it. Jesus knows that the pagan world will resist, but he challenges us to go there anyway, and to build his church in those very places that are most morally decayed. – Ray Vander Laan, The Gates of Hell, emphasis mine. I recommend the article in its entirety.