Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" They said in reply, "John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'" Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "The Messiah of God." He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone. He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised." Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. (Lk9:18-24)
People always looked for models. They also compared models. People often compared with known models. So when Jesus appeared with his teaching and preaching, people were compelled to compare with known models. That is why people said he was a prophet like Elijah/John the Baptist.
He was certainly a prophet; because his activities were similar to that of prophets. But he was more than a prophet. He was not just pointing to God’s kingdom in the future; he was causing the kingdom to appear among people and established it. The disciples who were close to him, realized that he was a Messiah. The disciples found in him a combination of authority, power, insight and fulfilment of scriptures. However, they did not see him fulfilling everything they had expected a Messiah to do. That is why Peter could say that he was Messiah.
Peter said that Jesus was the Messiah from his own way of understanding. Then Jesus said what his understanding of the Messiah was. According to Jesus, Messiah should suffer, be rejected and so on. There are three ways of understanding Jesus and his ministry. They are: prophet (crowd), Messiah (understanding of Peter/disciples) and Messiah with the understanding of Jesus.
