{Thou art the Christ} (Su ei ho Christos). Mark does not
give "the Son of the living God" ( Mt 16:16 ) or "of God" ( Lu
9:20 ). The full confession is the form in Matthew. Luke's
language means practically the same, while Mark's is the
briefest. But the form in Mark really means the full idea. Mark
omits all praise of Peter, probably because Peter had done so in
his story of the incident. For criticism of the view that
Matthew's narrative is due to ecclesiastical development and
effort to justify ecclesiastical prerogatives, see discussion on
烘t 16:16,18|. The disciples had confessed him as Messiah before.
Thus  Joh 1:41  4:29  6:69  Mt 14:33 . But Jesus had ceased to
use the word Messiah to avoid political complications and a
revolutionary movement ( Joh 6:14f. ). But did the disciples
still believe in Jesus as Messiah after all the defections and
oppositions seen by them? It was a serious test to which Jesus
now put them.