Now Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Messiah.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” (Mk 8:27-33)
This passage is central to the Gospel of Mark. Till now Jesus was preaching the kingdom and doing the works of the kingdom. All these were done in Galilee. Jesus was gathering the people for the true exodus to meet the Lord in Jerusalem. At this juncture Jesus was to know exactly what the people think about him. People’s understanding of Jesus and in particular that of his disciples was important for Jesus.
Jesus is a prophet, announcing the kingdom of God: the long awaited moment when God would rule Israel. All mere human rules, with their mixtures of justice and oppression, mercy and corruption, would fade away. All the healings, the battles with evil, extraordinary feedings, stilling of storms etc are signs that indeed the moment when true God is beginning to exercise his power.
The identity of Jesus clears the view of his mission. As soon as peter confessed his view of Jesus immediately Jesus himself reveals his mission. Peter who was clear about the identity of Jesus fails to understand the mission of Jesus. So the Galilean ministry was to make the disciples understand the identity of Jesus and from now on Jesus has to make his disciple understand his mission in Jerusalem.
