‘Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” '
Once again Jesus is found in Gentile territory, at Caesarea Philippi, north of the Sea of Galilee, in the territory of Herod Philip. And there He calls on His disciples to tell Him Whom men are saying that He is.
Caesarea had been built into a large city by Philip in honour of Augustus Caesar, and called Caesarea Philippi, both in order to distinguish it from the Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast where Cornelius the Roman centurion was converted (Acts 10-11), and as a reminder that Philip had built it. It was situated at the foot of Mount Hermon. On that mountain was a sanctuary to Pan and a Temple for the worship of the emperor in an area well supplied with pagan temples. It was against that background that a small group of people came to the foot of Mount Hermon for a unique purpose.
Note Jesus' reference to Himself here as the Son of Man, a regular feature in Matthew (compare Matthew 8:20; Matthew 9:6; Matthew 10:23; Matthew 12:8). The other Gospels translate it here as ‘I' so as not to confuse Gentile readers who had little Jewish background.