Matthew 16:16

‘And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.” '

As we would expect it is Peter who blurts out a response. The disciples appear to have been quite willing to let him take the lead in such matters, probably due to their own lack of confidence. One thing Peter was not lacking in was self-confidence. It does not, however, mean that they saw him as their leader. They looked on Jesus as their leader. He was simply their spokesman. This is emphatically brought out by the fact that later the Apostles will constantly argue among themeselves about who was the greatest (Mark 9:33; Luke 21:24; compare Matthew 20:20). Had they seen Peter being established here by Jesus as their leader they would not have done that, and all Jesus would have had to point that was what He had Himself decided.

Peter declares, “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.” We need not doubt that this was the opinion of them all, for they would undoubtedly have discussed the matter between themselves. The statement here reveals Him as the Coming One and as something more. There were many views about the Messiah, from that of a military leader who would drive out the Romans, to a great teacher, to a more splendid heavenly figure who would have great powers, and who would do the same but with more of a divine flourish. In the case of Jesus His disciples recognised that there was more to Him than they understood, that somehow He was different from all expectations, and that He had a relationship with the Father that was unique, a relationship in which God spoke of Him as His beloved Son (Matthew 3:17; Matthew 11:25). They remembered how He had walked on the sea, stilled the storm and fed the crowds. Then they had acknowledged Him instinctively as ‘the Son of God' (Matthew 14:33). Now it was a matter of working out what that actually meant. So these words of Peter well expressed something of what they all believed.