In Matthew 16:13-20 , when Jesus comes into the region of Caesarea Philippi , he asks his disciples , “ Who do men say that I , the Son of Man , am ?”
They answer , “ Some say John the Baptist , some Elijah , and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets .”
There were no shortage of opinions at the time . It seems that the disciples also filtered away the more negative opinions , as many Pharisees claimed that Jesus operated in the power of the devil .
Today , people are still coming up with different answers to the same question . Many say that Jesus is a prophet , moral teacher or a religious leader , perhaps thinking that they are somehow complimenting him . Others claim that he never existed , he was mad , or that he was a founder of some Gnostic group .
Then Jesus asks his disciples , “ But who do you say that I am ?” Simon Peter answers , “ You are the Christ , the Son of the living God .”
The Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for the Messiah . But it seems that calling Jesus the Messiah wasn ’ t enough for Peter ; he also called Jesus the Son of the living God . The Qumran Scrolls show that the Messianic title ‘ Son of God ’ was coming into use at this time .
Kings of the Jews When Peter said that Jesus was the Christ , it seems clear that he didn ’ t fully understand what he had said .
The concepts of the Messiah and the Messianic Age grew from the prophet Isaiah ’ s writings . The word ‘ messiah ’ comes from the Hebrew verb meaning “ to apply oil to ”. In the Old Testament , Israel ’ s kings were sometimes called God ’ s ➜
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