And he asked them, But *ye*, who do ye say that I am? And Peter answering says to him, *Thou* art the Christ.
On the road near Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks what the crowds are saying about Him. Then He turns the question on His twelve disciples. Peter's answer is short. Everything that follows in Mark — the cross, the rebuke — hangs on it.
One writer weighs human cleverness against faith:
The great test question then, as now, is "Who do people say that I am?" All glory for God and blessing for man turns upon the Person of Christ. It becomes clear that mere human intelligence will never arrive at the truth. Many men of that day were scholars with great minds. Even so, all their thoughts about Christ ended in speculation and uncertainty... Faith does not speculate or reason, but with the utmost certainty arrives at the truth, for faith is the gift of God.
The names the crowd picked show what they missed in Him:
How else could they mistake the meek and lowly Saviour for Elijah, the prophet of devouring fire from heaven and famine on earth? Or for John the Baptist, who fiercely condemned the sins of Israel? In their blindness the people completely failed to see the grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ.
One writer explains the title Peter uses:
Then He drew out from Peter what the disciples held Him to be. Taught by God, Peter confesses Him to be "the Christ," or Anointed One of God.
The Lord was not asking for information. He asked the small group who had stayed with Him, and their reply met a real need in His heart.
The Lord's love had kindled the disciples' affections towards Himself. They rested in calm confidence that He was the Sent One of God. The people, in the uncertainty that unbelief produces, were pulled about by conflicting opinions. It is faith alone that gives assurance... They told the Lord so. Jonathan did the same when he came to David in the wilderness of Ziph, while Saul was trying to kill him. Jonathan said he was sure David was anointed to be the coming king in Israel (1 Sam. 23:17). That confession of loyalty, we read, strengthened David's hand in God. May we not say that He who "sought for comforters and found none" rejoiced at the confession of Peter?
Matthew records more of this confession, and more of the Lord's reply. One writer explains why:
Here we do not have, as in Matthew, the Lord saying, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah."... This is because here Peter says only, "You are the Christ." Where the account adds that he confessed the Lord to be "the Son of the living God," it also gives the special note that he was blessed... If He had been only the Christ, the Messiah of Israel, that would not have been a firm enough basis for the Church. His Messianic dignity might have been rock enough for Israel, since it was their faith and hope. But "the Son of the living God" was a revelation of His glory that went far beyond it.
Peter gets the answer right. At once the Lord tells him to say nothing about it. That silence marks a turning point.
...though here Peter only says, "You are the Christ," our Lord charges them to tell no one. He does the same in Matthew, Mark and Luke. This is a point we should take to heart... How does this come about? It was too late. He had already given full proofs. The time was past for presenting Him any longer as the Jewish Messiah. The people had heard it all; and who did they say He was?... So He drops the title of "Christ," and insists on His place as Son of man, the suffering One first.
Just before this, Mark records a blind man healed in two stages. One writer sees the same half-sight in Peter:
Peter did have some measure of spiritual sight, for he had just confessed Him as the Christ. Yet when the Lord announced His coming rejection and death, this very man protested fiercely... Peter's mind was set on "the things that are of men," and so he matched the man we have just read about, who saw men as trees walking. Though he recognised the Christ in Jesus, he still had men before him. The other disciples were no better than he was. So how could he go out as an effective witness to the Christ he recognised?
- Question — "Who do you say that I am?" is the test every reader faces. All glory for God and blessing for man turns on the Person of Christ.
- Guesswork — The crowd's answers were respectful and wrong. Human ability, however educated, ends in speculation.
- Gift — Peter's certainty came from faith, not from reasoning. Faith is God's gift, and faith alone gives assurance.
- Glory — Mark records only "You are the Christ." Matthew adds "the Son of the living God" — a glory far beyond Israel's hope, and the only basis firm enough for the Church.
- Cross — The time for presenting Him as Israel's Messiah was past. So the Lord silences the title and speaks as the Son of man who must suffer. Peter, with half-opened eyes, could not yet accept it.
And he charged them straitly, in order that they should tell no man about him.
Peter has just said who Jesus is, and at once the Lord bans the disciples from repeating it. Why silence a true confession, and what replaces it?
The command follows a test question, and the answers show two ways of thinking about Jesus. Popular opinion produced guesses; one unlearned man produced certainty.
The great test question then, as now, is "Who do people say that I am?" All glory for God and blessing for man turns upon the Person of Christ. It becomes clear that mere human intelligence will never arrive at the truth. Many scholars of that day had great intellectual power. Yet all their thoughts about Christ ended in guesswork and uncertainty... In contrast we see in Peter the result of simple faith. Measured against the intellectual leaders of this world, he was an untaught and unlearned man. Faith does not speculate or reason, but with the utmost certainty arrives at the truth, for faith is the gift of God.
The ban is not a denial of what Peter said. It is a verdict on the nation that had already heard the claim and refused it.
He binds them to tell no one about it. How does this come about? It was too late. Full proofs had been granted. The time was past for presenting Him any longer as the Jewish Messiah. It had been fully told to the people; and who did they say He was? ... That testimony was closed now. There was no use talking about it. The Jews had refused Him, and would refuse Him for good, as the Messiah. He had given them every possible form and degree of testimony, and the result was that they rejected Him — their religious leaders most of all, more and more bitterly and in unbelief.
Another writer points to how absolute the ban is. He calls it the clearest sign that the witness among the people had ended.
The Lord forbids the disciples to tell it to any man, in the most positive way. This is the clearest proof that the testimony in the midst of the people was entirely at an end. He was still the Christ, but the people rejected Him. In rejecting the wonderful grace of God they showed themselves to be their own enemy.
The title carried national weight. The nation had refused Him on the merits of His glory, so He would not let the disciples spread the name to stir their feelings.
This was the glory of Judaism and the truth of God. It was a fitting, divine and Jewish dignity, His office to the nation. But they were now no longer to tell it. They had refused Him on the merits of His glory and truth. So He was not to be put forward to excite and satisfy their passions. They were to tell no man that He was the Christ.
He drops one title and takes up a wider one. What He sets aside is rule over Israel; what He gains is rule over all things.
The nation had rejected Him, so His position as the Messiah is set aside for the time. The Lord takes the wider title of Son of Man. That title leads to greater glories than rule on earth linked with Israel, for as Son of Man He will have universal dominion over all created things. But first He must go into death, complete redemption, and break the power of Satan, death and the grave. Only then can He take His place as Son of Man with all things put under Him, and show His grace to all men.
Writers note that Mark records less of Peter's confession than Matthew does, and that the shorter version fits what follows.
Peter is represented by Mark as saying simply, "You are the Christ," while in Matthew the words are, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." So you have nothing in Mark like "on this rock I will build my church." The church is built not exactly on the Christ or Messiah as such, but on the confession of "the Son of the living God." So we may see how beautifully the omissions of Scripture hang together.
Up to here the account is all service. After this point everything moves toward the cross, and the disciples lose the message they had been carrying.
But it was too late to make Him known as such in the nation that had rejected Him. He turns away from all that belonged to Him as the living Messiah on earth. It was no longer the bright prospect of the kingdom... It is the turning point of the Gospel of Mark. How immense the change for the disciples! What a blighting of their long-cherished hopes connected with the kingdom.
- Confession — Human cleverness only guessed at who Jesus was. Peter's certainty came from faith, and faith is the gift of God.
- Closure — The silence is not secrecy for its own sake. He had given every possible proof. The nation refused it, and the public offer of Him as Messiah was over.
- Restraint — The nation had refused His glory on its merits. He would not let a rejected title stir their feelings.
- Exchange — In place of "Christ" comes "Son of Man": not a demotion but a wider glory, dominion over all created things.
- Cost — That wider glory runs through death first. At this turning point the disciples' hopes of an earthly kingdom give way to the cross.