8:27-30 Still in Gentile territory, Jesus ... and his disciples went around in the towns of Caesarea Philippi. As they walked along, Jesus asked them, Whom do men say that I am? The disciples recited the current rumors: John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. While these options put Jesus in good company, none of them revealed his real identity. So Jesus pressed the point, asking directly, But whom say ye that I am?
Peter answered immediately, speaking for the whole group: Thou art the Christ. The words were right, but, in the Gospel of Mark, there are hints that they were rooted in the popular notions about the Christ or Messiah being a divine intermediary in the political realm—notions that Jesus would refute. And Jesus charged them that they should tell no man of him—because they did not yet understand what Messiah would mean.
8:31-33 Eager to teach a new understanding of Christ, Jesus told them, that the Son of man—a ... simple self-reference—must suffer many things ... be rejected ... be killed, and after three days rise again. That these things "must" happen is traditionally attributed to the divine will—that God sent His son to suffer and die. Another point of view suggests that the radical nature of Jesus' teachings and actions would lead to inevitable opposition, and ultimately his death, perpetrated by none other than the elders, chief priests, and scribes—the religious leaders.
