(SINGING IN HEBREW) ♪ SHINE, SHINE,
SHINE YOUR LIGHT ♪ ♪ AS THE BRIGHTEST DAY
IN THE DARKEST NIGHT. ♪ ♪ SHINE, SHINE,
SHINE YOUR LIGHT ♪ ♪ AS THE BRIGHTEST DAY
IN THE DARKEST NIGHT. ♪ CON CAMPBELL: I'VE SPENT MOST
OF MY CAREER STUDYING PAUL, AND HIS INFLUENCE
ON CHRISTIANITY. NOW, I'M TURNING TO PETER.
I'M TRAVELING TO THE LAND WHERE HIS FORMATION
FROM HUMBLE FISHERMAN TO THE BISHOP OF
ROME TOOK PLACE. AND I'M DISCOVERING FOR MYSELF
THE PLACES HE INFLUENCED. CON: SEEING THIS, AND SEEING
YOU BREAK IT JUST THEN, MAKES SENSE OF THE WORD BREAK,
THAT HE BROKE THE BREAD. FOLLOWING HIS PATH OF MOST
UNLIKELY TRANSFORMATION. I'M CON CAMPBELL,
AND I'M IN PURSUIT OF PETER. I'M ON THE ROAD AGAIN
WITH JACK BECK. WE'RE LEAVING
PETER'S OBSERVANT, JEWISH NEIGHBORHOOD IN GALILEE IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR, BOUND FOR AN INFAMOUS
PAGAN WORSHIP CENTER AT CAESAREA PHILIPPI. JACK MAY HAVE
PREFERRED TO HIKE, BUT FORTUNATELY, MY PRODUCER RENTED A CAR FOR US. NOW IF YOU'RE THINKING CAESAREA
SOUNDS A LOT LIKE CAESAR, YOU'D BE RIGHT. THE CITY IS ROMAN
IN ALMOST EVERY WAY, AND AS PAGAN AS
ANY PLACE IN ISRAEL. JACK: SO CON, WE'RE...
WE'RE AT THE BASE OF MT. HERMON. MT. HERMON JUST EXPLODES
HERE UP TO 9,262 FEET. CAESAREA PHILIPPI,
WHAT WE HAVE OF IT, SITS IN THE BOX BELOW US
HERE, BELOW THE RIDGE. CON: SO IS THE
CITY EXCLUSIVELY BEFORE THE EDGE
OF THE CLIFF FACE? JACK: SO, FROM THE
CLIFF FACE TOWARDS US, THAT'S WHERE THE
ARCHAEOLOGY IS LOCATED. CON: NOW AT THIS POINT,
PETER'S KNOWN JESUS A FULL THREE YEARS,
AND I'M SURE A BOND HAS FORMED, BEYOND THAT OF
MENTOR AND STUDENT. BUT PETER'S PERSPECTIVE
WAS MORE THAN A BIT INCOMPLETE, OFF THE MARK. HE HAD TO WONDER WHY.
WHY'D THEY COME HERE? AND YOU COULD EXCUSE PETER
FOR AT LEAST THINKING, IF NOT BLURTING OUT THE WORDS, "WHAT'S GOING ON, JESUS?" CON: JESUS HAS COME TO THIS
CENTER FOR PAGAN WORSHIP. EVERYTHING HERE
WOULD BE ABHORRENT TO A CONSERVATIVE JEW,
LIKE PETER. JACK: THE DEITIES OF THE
PAGAN WORLD WERE MORE ACTIVE, AND MORE POWERFUL IN CERTAIN
LOCATIONS THAN OTHERS, AND THIS SURREAL-LOOKING
PLACE, TO THEM, WAS A PLACE WHERE YOU COULD
EXPECT DEITIES TO BE ACTIVE. WHAT YOU'RE STANDING ON HERE
WOULD BE FULL OF WORSHIPERS... OF THE DEITY, PAN, WHOSE STATUE IS GOING TO BE TUCKED IN HERE. IN FACT, EUSEBIUS,
THE CHURCH HISTORIAN, SAYS THIS CAVE WAS
THE ENTRANCE TO HADES. CON: MANY PEOPLE
MADE THE TREK HERE... TO WORSHIP THE GREEK GOD, PAN. PAN WAS HALF HUMAN, WITH THE HIND LEGS
AND THE HORNS OF A GOAT. HIS POWERS WERE SAID
TO RULE OVER NATURE, AND ESPECIALLY FERTILITY. THE WORDS "PANIC"
AND "PANDEMONIUM" HAVE THEIR ORIGINS IN
THE MYTHS SURROUNDING PAN. THE RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION
OF PAN'S WORSHIPERS PLAYED OUT IN ACTS
OF RAW LUST AND HEDONISM. I COULD EASILY
IMAGINE THE SCENE TO BE DEEPLY
DISTURBING TO PETER. EVERY NORM OF OBSERVANT
JUDAISM WOULD BE VIOLATED. CON: A HIGH POINT FOR
PETER'S DISCIPLESHIP OF JESUS OCCURS HERE. YOU KNOW,
JESUS BEGINS BY ASKING THEM, "WHO DO PEOPLE
SAY THAT I AM?" SOME OF THE DISCIPLES
SAY, "YOU'RE A PROPHET, "SOME SAY YOU'RE ELIJAH."
AND PETER FINALLY NAILS IT, "YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE
MESSIAH, THE SON OF GOD, "FULFILLMENT OF
MESSIANIC PROMISES." AND THAT'S A...
THAT'S A HUGE MOMENT, AND JESUS, IN EFFECT,
SAYS, "YOU GOT IT." JACK: YEAH,
YOU GOT IT, YOU GOT IT. AND I THINK THAT POWERFUL
STATEMENT OF, "YOU GOT IT," IS BECAUSE OF WHERE THEY ARE. WHEN JESUS ASKED THE DISCIPLES, "WHO DO PEOPLE SAY THAT I AM?" AND HE STARTS
TO HEAR ANSWERS THAT FIT THE SEA OF
GALILEE CONTEXT, HE SAYS,
"BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU?" AND PETER'S RIGHT THERE.
HE'S GOING, "OH, I GET IT. "YOU WANT US TO PUT THE QUESTION
IN THE RIGHT CONTEXT. "YOU ARE THE CHRIST,"
AND THEN HE ADDS, "THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.
IN CONTRAST TO EVERYTHING "THAT'S CLAIMING AUTHENTICITY
HERE, YOU'RE THE REAL DEAL." CON: RIGHT. JESUS AFFIRMS
WHAT PETER SAID, AND THIS IS ALSO A VERY
SIGNIFICANT STATEMENT. HE SAYS, "THIS HAS
BEEN REVEALED TO YOU "BY MY HEAVENLY FATHER,"
AND THEN HE SAYS, "YOU ARE PETER," AND REMEMBERING
THAT PETER MEANS ROCK, "AND ON THIS ROCK
I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH." AND THIS IS AN EXTRAORDINARY
MOMENT FOR PETER. THEN THE CONVERSATION TAKES
A TURN, BECAUSE JESUS SAYS THAT HE IS GONNA BE REJECTED
BY THE CHIEF PRIESTS, THE ELDERS, THE SCRIBES,
THE JEWISH LEADERSHIP, HE IS GOING TO SUFFER,
AND HE'S GOING TO DIE. AND PETER JUST CANNOT STOMACH
THAT, HE CAN'T TAKE THAT. PETER SAYS, "WHOA,
NO, NO, NO LORD, "THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN TO YOU." AND THIS IS A MOMENT WHERE,
RIGHT AFTER JESUS HAS SAID, "YOU ARE PETER, AND ON THIS ROCK
I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH," HE THEN SAYS,
"GET BEHIND ME, SATAN. "YOU'RE NOT THINKING
ABOUT THIS THE RIGHT WAY." JACK: YOU FEEL THAT...
THAT WELLING CONFIDENCE IN THE STUDENT
WHO GETS IT RIGHT, AND THEN HE GETS TAKEN
FROM THE FRONT OF THE CLASS TO THE VERY BACK OF
THE ROOM AND PUNISHED, FOR MAKING A SUGGESTION
ABOUT WHAT OUGHT TO FOLLOW. CON: IT SHOWS US THAT HE'S... HE'S PARTIALLY GOT IT, BUT HE'S STILL
GOT SOME WAY TO GO. JACK: HE DOES. CON: ALRIGHT, LET'S
TAKE A LOOK AROUND CON: PETER MUST'VE
BEEN PERPLEXED. JESUS CONFIRMS THAT
HE IS LORD OVER ALL, INCLUDING OVER PAGAN
AUTHORITY AND PAGAN WORSHIP, AND THAT HE IS ABOVE
AND GREATER THAN THESE SURROUNDINGS. BUT THEN
JESUS CLAIMS THAT SOMEHOW, HE'LL BE DEFEATED BY IT? THIS WOULD'VE MADE
NO SENSE TO PETER. CON: WELL,
THANK YOU SO MUCH JACK, AND JUST AS JESUS
TURNED FROM THIS SPOT TO HEAD TO JERUSALEM,
THAT'S WHERE I'M GOING NEXT. CON: JESUS' REPUTATION
HAD PRECEDED HIM, AS HE HEADED TO JERUSALEM
FOR THE PASSOVER REMEMBRANCE, AND CROWDS FROM ACROSS
ISRAEL ALSO GATHERED, CALLING OUT, "HOSANNA," THE MESSIANIC PHRASE
MEANING, "SAVE US." AND AS HE CAME INTO THE CITY, THE CROWDS LAID
DOWN THEIR CLOAKS AND PALM BRANCHES
FOR HIM TO RIDE ON. AND HE DESCENDED
THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, THROUGH THE DESCENT HERE, COMING DOWN THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, AND THEN UP INTO THE CITY. SO I'M SURE THAT FOR PETER,
THIS WAS A CLIMACTIC MOMENT, A MOMENT OF GREAT
EXPECTATIONS. A MOMENT WHERE...
FULL OF EXCITEMENT, WHERE HE WOULD SEE THE KING
FINALLY ENTER JERUSALEM, AND BRING ABOUT THIS REVOLUTION
THAT HE HAD SO LONGED FOR, THAT HE HAD BEEN
FOLLOWING JESUS FOR. BUT IT'S INTERESTING THAT,
WHILE PETER AND OTHERS... HAD THAT KIND OF EXPECTATION, JESUS SEEMED TO HAVE A
DIFFERENT SORT OF EXPECTATION, BECAUSE HE... HE WEPT
OVER THE CITY. HE KNEW THAT IN ONLY
A MATTER OF A FEW DAYS, CROWDS WOULD BE CHANTING,
"CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM." THAT THE CITY WOULD
REJECT HER PROMISED KING, AND SO WHILE HE WAS WEEPING,
THE CROWDS WERE REJOICING, BUT SOON WE WOULD SEE THAT
JESUS' EXPECTATION IS THE ONE THAT WOULD ACTUALLY
ULTIMATELY PLAY OUT, AS THE CROWDS WOULD
TURN AGAINST HIM, HAND HIM OVER TO THE ROMANS,
AND CRUCIFY HIM. AVNER, RACHAEL,
AND THEIR SON, DAVID, WERE MY GRACIOUS HOSTS
AT THE PASSOVER SEDER, AND WERE DELIGHTED
TO OFFER MORE THAN A MEAL
AND HOSPITALITY. THEY PROVIDED HELPFUL
UNDERSTANDING OF THE SYMBOLISM AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PASSOVER. THIS LAST SUPPER JESUS WOULD HAVE WITH
PETER AND THE DISCIPLES. CON: THIS LOOKS
LIKE CRANBERRY SAUCE. AVNER: IT'S PRETTY CLOSE,
IT'S BEETS CUT WITH HORSERADISH. THAT HORSERADISH IS VERY STRONG. IT BRINGS TEARS TO YOUR EYES. CON: OKAY, NOT IN A GOOD WAY. AVNER: NO. AND THE
WHOLE IDEA IS TO REMEMBER THE TEARS WE CRIED WHEN WE WERE SLAVES, SO IT'S A HISTORICAL TOOL, TO REMEMBER WHAT
WE SUFFERED AS A NATION. CON: SO THIS ONE
MAKES YOU CRY, OKAY. HOW NORMAL IS IT TO HAVE A FOOT
WASHING AT A PASSOVER MEAL? DAVID: YOU WOULD COME IN
WITH VERY DIRTY FEET, AND SO IT WOULD BE REQUIRED
PROBABLY, TO HAVE A NICE DINNER, FOR EVERYTHING NOT
TO SMELL TERRIBLY, AND SO THE SERVANTS OF
THE HOUSE WOULD COME, AND THEY WOULD CLEAN
THE FEET OF THESE PEOPLE THAT WOULD BE WALKING AROUND
IN SANDALS, SO VERY DIRTY FEET. AND IT'S FUNNY THAT,
YOU KNOW, IT WAS YESHUA WHO DID IT FOR HIS DISCIPLES, WHICH WOULD PROBABLY
NOT HAVE BEEN THE NORM, WHICH IS WHY HE FOCUSES
ON THE FACT THAT IF YOU WANT TO BE A LEADER, YOU HAVE TO BECOME A SERVANT OF ALL. CON: I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING
THAT PETER STRUGGLED WITH, BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT
JESUS TO WASH HIS FEET. IN, I THINK, CLASSIC
PETER STYLE, YOU KNOW. "NO LORD, YOU'LL NEVER
WASH MY FEET." AVNER: I REMEMBER WHEN
I WAS STUDYING ALSO IN SEMINARY, AND WE WERE LOOKING
AT THAT LINE FROM MARK, WHERE IT SAYS, "FOR THE SON
OF MAN DID NOT COME "TO BE SERVED, BUT TO SERVE, "AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE
A RANSOM FOR MANY." THAT MESSAGE IS STILL
SO RADICAL NOW, AND ONE OF THE MESSAGES
OF THE PASSOVER TABLE IS THAT ANYONE WHO'S GONNA
FOLLOW THE MESSIAH OF ISRAEL IS GOING TO HAVE TO INCORPORATE
THAT IN HIS LIFE, TOO, AND LEARN WHAT IT MEANS
TO SERVE OTHERS. CON: RIGHT. (SINGING IN HEBREW) CON: IT WAS DURING THIS MEAL
THAT JESUS TOLD PETER THAT HE, PETER, WOULD DENY
KNOWING HIM THREE TIMES. PETER SCOFFED, AND BOLDLY CLAIMED THAT
HE WOULD GO TO PRISON AND DIE FOR JESUS,
BUT WE HAVE TO WONDER, JUST WHICH VERSION OF JESUS
WAS PETER WILLING TO DIE FOR? THE JESUS HE THOUGHT HE KNEW, OR THE SACRIFICIAL
SAVIOR WHO SUFFERED, AND EVEN DIED, AND SPENT
THREE DAYS IN A BURIAL CLOTH? AFTER THEY SHARED
THE PASSOVER MEAL TOGETHER, JESUS' LAST SUPPER,
HE CAME HERE TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES TO PRAY, ALONG WITH PETER,
JAMES, AND JOHN. AND JESUS ASKED PETER,
JAMES, AND JOHN TO KEEP WATCH WHILE
HE WENT OFF TO PRAY. HE SAID TO THEM, "PRAY THAT YOU
WILL NOT FALL INTO TEMPTATION." SO JESUS WENT TO BE ALONE FOR
A TIME OF SOLITUDE AND PRAYER, AND WHEN HE RETURNED
TO HIS FRIENDS, HE FOUND THEM ASLEEP. AND SHORTLY AFTER THAT,
A COMPANY OF ROMAN SOLDIERS APPROACHED IN ORDER
TO ARREST JESUS, AND WHILE JUDAS BETRAYED
JESUS WITH A KISS, PETER WAS DETERMINED
TO DEFEND JESUS. HE DREW THE SWORD, HE STRUCK
OFF THE EAR OF MALCHUS, A GUARD OF THE HIGH PRIEST, AND JESUS HEALED MALCHUS,
AND REBUKED PETER. HE SAID, "ANYONE WHO
LIVES BY THE SWORD "WILL DIE BY THE SWORD."
AND SO WE SEE THAT PETER HAS STILL NOT REALLY UNDERSTOOD
WHAT JESUS HAS COME TO DO. HE THOUGHT, MAYBE
THIS IS THE MOMENT WHEN HE IS GONNA
SHOW HIS STRENGTH, WHERE HE IS GONNA OVERTHROW
THESE ROMAN SOLDIERS, AND ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM,
THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THE KINGDOM THAT PETER
HAS BEEN WAITING FOR. AND THAT'S WHY
HE DRAWS THE SWORD. HE STILL BELIEVES THE KINGDOM
MUST COME BY POWER, IT MUST COME BY FORCE,
IT MUST COME BY THE SWORD, AND HE'S NOT UNDERSTOOD
THAT JESUS HAS COME TO ESTABLISH A SPIRITUAL
KINGDOM, A SPIRITUAL KINGDOM THAT WILL BE ESTABLISHED
NOT BY JESUS DRAWING THE SWORD, BUT BY JESUS ACCEPTING DEATH
AT THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES. AND PETER HAS NOT YET
UNDERSTOOD THIS. HE HAS NOT UNDERSTOOD
THAT THE WAY TO GLORY IS THROUGH SUFFERING. AND SO JESUS IS TAKEN
AWAY BY THE SOLDIERS, WHILE PETER, JAMES,
AND JOHN SCATTER. CON: PETER FOLLOWED THE TEMPLE
GUARDS AT A DISTANCE AS THEY MADE THEIR WAY TO
THE HOME OF THE HIGH PRIEST. ONCE THERE, HE STAYED
OUTSIDE IN THE COURTYARD WITH THE SERVANTS,
AND KEPT WARM BY A FIRE. WHATEVER PETER
MAY HAVE EXPECTED OF JESUS' MESSIANIC ROLE,
THEY HAD GROWN AS CLOSE AS BROTHERS,
AND NOW JESUS WAS IN PERIL. BUT WHEN A SERVANT GIRL
ASKED IF HE KNEW JESUS, PETER DENIED IT. PERHAPS HE WAS STILL REELING
FROM THE STINGING REBUKE OF HIS SWORD WORK
DURING JESUS' ARREST. PERHAPS HE THOUGHT
THAT EVEN NOW, JESUS WOULD
PERFORM A MIRACLE, AND BRING JUDGMENT
ON HIS ENEMIES. WE DON'T KNOW PETER'S MOTIVES. WHEN ANOTHER IN THE COURTYARD
IDENTIFIED PETER AS ONE OF JESUS' DISCIPLES,
HE AGAIN DENIED IT, THIS TIME WITH MORE URGENCY. HE MUST'VE BEEN MAKING SMALL
TALK AROUND THE FIRE, BECAUSE A LITTLE LATER, A GROUP
OF THOSE IN THE COURTYARD ALSO ACCUSED HIM OF
BEING A FOLLOWER OF JESUS. THEY SAID HIS GALILEAN
ACCENT GAVE HIM AWAY. THIS WAS SIMPLY
TOO MUCH FOR PETER. EVERYTHING WAS COMING
APART IN FRONT OF HIS EYES. HIS LEADER HAD BEEN TAKEN,
HIS FRIEND ARRESTED, AND IT LOOKED LIKE
IT WOULDN'T END WELL. SO IN RESPONSE, ACCORDING
TO THE GOSPEL OF MARK, HE CURSED. HE SWORE AN OATH,
AND QUICKLY, COARSELY, DECLARED THAT HE DID NOT
KNOW THAT DAMNED MAN. IN THAT MOMENT,
PETER FULLY REJECTED JESUS, REFUSING TO BE
ASSOCIATED WITH HIM. AND THEN, IN THE SHOCK
AND THE SILENCE, A ROOSTER CROWED THREE TIMES. PETER REMEMBERED,
WITH BITTERNESS OF SOUL, WHAT JESUS HAD SAID TO HIM. PETER LEFT THE COURTYARD,
OUT INTO THE NIGHT, AND HE WEPT INCONSOLABLY. WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT. JESUS WAS TRIED AND CRUCIFIED. BUT PETER, THE ONE
WHO JUST HOURS EARLIER DECLARED HIS
ALLEGIANCE TO JESUS, WAS NEITHER IN SIGHT,
NOR IN EARSHOT, WHEN JESUS, IN ANGUISH
ON HIS CROSS, UTTERED THE WORDS,
"FATHER FORGIVE THEM, "FOR THEY KNOW
NOT WHAT THEY DO." (SINGER)
♪ PLEASE FORGIVE ME ♪ ♪ BEFORE WE REACH THE END. ♪
