An overview of Ceasarea Phillipi with the afternoon sun at our backs. If Jesus were standing with His disciples in front of this sheer cliff, it would explain His use of the metaphor "rock" used in His conversation with Peter. The word He used was Petra, a term that would be used to describe such a bluff. (Cf. Matt 7:24,25, ". . .who built his house upon the rock Petra.")