In this scripture, Jesus is teaching at the base of a massive rock cliff where atop the cliff there was built the temple to Tiberius Caesar. The Romans were trying to conquer the world and claim divinity, claiming they were the sons of God and also divine. And at the base of this massive cliff was a water spring, where the Romans had built a well and a sanctuary to the Greco-Roman God, Pan. This well was very deep and the Romans would throw people down it to sacrifice people to Pan. The Romans also believed that this well was an entrance into the netherworld, where Hades resides. This stream is still there today, flowing into Galilee, then it flows into Dead Sea. And Jesus was questioning his disciples and said, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” And the disciples said, “Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some Elias; and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets." And Jesus responded and said, “But whom say ye that I am?” And Simon-Peter answered and said, “Thou art ye Christ, the son of the living God.” And Jesus answered and said unto him, “Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona; for flesh and blood have not revealed in unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”
In this passage to Peter, Jesus tells us that he is the true son of God, not Caesar, that he is the true Shepherd, not Pan, and that his is the true source of living waters giving us the Holy Spirit that wells up inside us so that we may share in the divine life. When Jesus died after his crucifixion, he did not go to Hell, he went to Hades, the abode of the dead, where souls were awaiting judgement. He went there first to liberate the dead, and thus rescue us from sin and death.