Caesarea 

Caesarea or Caesarea Maritima, “Caesar by the Sea,” is on the coast of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, north of Joppa, south of Dora. Maritima was added to distinguish it from Caesarea Philippi, also called Dan, which is a different city near the headwaters of the Jordan River, twenty-five miles north of the Sea of Galilee and at the base of Mount Hermon. Jesus visited both cities.

Caesarea was built by Herod the Great near the ruins of the small naval station of Straton’s Tower, an ancient Phoenician settlement, and he renamed it in honor of Caesar Augustus. It served as a major port, known as the administrative, economic, and cultural capital of the Palestinian province of Judaea. Herod greatly improved the city, first via the construction of a deep-sea harbor. He then built storerooms, markets, wide roads, baths, temples, aqueducts, and stately public buildings. Herod created a palace for himself that jutted out into the sea. Caesarea became the residence of the Roman Procurator.

Today’s city of Caesarea is an affluent resort town in north-central Israel built about a mile south of the ancient city of Caesarea Maritima, in the adjacent Caesarea National Park on the western edge of the Sharon Plain in Israel. The city is also transliterated as Keisarya or Qaysaria.

In Jesus’ twenty-third year, 17 CE, he took Simon to Jerusalem for the Passover. They journeyed down through the Decapolis. On their return they walked up the coast, passing through Lydda, Joppa, Caesarea, and then around Mount Carmel to Ptolemais and Nazareth. This helped Jesus become acquainted with Palestine north of Jerusalem.

In Jesus’ twenty-fourth year, 18 CE, a young man from Alexandria came down to Nazareth to arrange a meeting with Jesus at Caesarea with five prominent Jews of Alexandria who wished to bestow upon him the honor of being a leading religious teacher in Alexandria, with a position of assistant to the chazan in their chief synagogue. Jesus declined their offer.

In Jesus’ twenty-eighth year, 22 CE, he agreed to serve as a translator to Gonod and his son Ganid. Gonod was an international businessman from India. Jesus also agreed to be a teacher to Ganid. They voyaged throughout the Mediterranean World, left Jerusalem, stopped at Joppa on business, and then headed to Caesarea, where they were to disembark to Alexandria in Egypt. This would be the first leg of their overall twenty-month journey.

However, they got stuck in Caesarea. Jesus extended his stay due to a damaged vessel, volunteering his craftsmanship for repairs. He engaged in enlightening discussions, influencing a Mongolian merchant with his teachings on living a heavenly life on earth and impacting a young Greek with insights on overcoming evil with goodness. These interactions sparked transformations, leading individuals to later contribute significantly to early Christian communities. Jesus also shared teachings on the will of God versus human will, the nature of the animal mind, and the importance of spiritual choices over temporal concerns with Ganid during their stay.

Jesus' thirty-first year, 25 CE, was a year of solitary wanderings through Palestine and Syria. Near the end, Jesus lived in Antioch for over two months, working as a tentmaker. From there he journeyed south along the coast to Caesarea where he stayed for a few weeks.

Jesus and his apostles traveled from Jerusalem to Bethsaida through the coastal cities of Joppa, Caesarea, and Ptolemais. The next day they headed for the synagogue at Capernaum, which turned out to be unfriendly.

When Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin court, the religious leaders wanted to have Jesus killed as soon as possible. Not only did it have to be done before the preparation day for the Passover, as no secular work should be done after midday, but they were concerned that Pilate might decide to return to Caesarea since he came to Jerusalem only for the Passover celebration.

When John Zebedee first reviewed the three Gospels that had already been written, he saw much that was missing. In the year 101 CE, he encouraged his associate, Nathan, a Greek Jew from Caesarea, to begin writing on his behalf the additional events that he recalled, which became the Gospel of John.