Jesus and his disciples have traveled to Caesarea Philippi in northernmost Israel, away from the distractions and confusions of Jerusalem. Jesus there confronts his "students" with, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

"Son of Man" appears regularly as Jesus' favorite term for himself. Obviously the disciples are familiar with this self-designation. They do not hesitate to answer with a series of possibilities. But, like the Son of Man title itself, all the identities offered are pulled from Israel's established, traditional past. The people Jesus has preached to, healed, fed and taught are capable of understanding him and his mission only by pigeonholing him into some past identity, now brought back to life.

Herod himself had guiltily voiced the possibility that Jesus was John the …