Who do people say that the Son of Man is?

Matthew 16:13-17 (vv. 13-20)

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”

Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone (Vol. 2)

The disciples report the general reaction—which tells us a good deal about the way Jesus was perceived by the people at large. Not “gentle Jesus, meek and mild”; not the cozy, comforting friend of little children; rather, like one of the wild prophets of recent or of ancient times, who had stood up and spoken God’s word fearlessly against wicked and rebellious kings. Jesus was acting as a prophet: not simply “one who foretells the future,” but one who was God’s mouthpiece against injustice and wickedness in high places.
But within that prophetic ministry there lay hidden another dimension . . . . He was not just God’s mouthpiece. He was God’s Messiah. He wasn’t just speaking God’s word against the wicked rulers of the time. He was God’s king, who would supplant them.
What Peter and the others were saying was: you are the true king. You’re the one Israel has been waiting for. You are God’s adopted son, the one of whom the Psalms and prophets had spoken (6-7).

A. Orendorff

Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Christ, the son of the living God. More than a prophet (though certainly not less), you are God’s king, you are creation’s Lord, and you are my Sovereign. Yet I am plunged into a world that (with my weak eyes of faith) looks nothing like the kingdom I expect. I spend my strength trying to build what only you can construct. I wage a sad, misguided and pathetic war against what (in the end) is only “flesh and blood”—both my own and others. I am weak and heavily burdened. Save me, Jesus, from myself: from both my pride and self-pity; from both my grandiosity and despair. Reveal to me, Father, Jesus the Messiah—crucified and risen. Make me a rock, not by virtue of who or what I am, but by virtue of who and what Jesus is.