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1 The material in this section draws upon a forthcoming much larger study, “Peter and His Declaration of Jesus as Messiah,” which I have undertaken for the Historical Jesus Study Group of the Institute for Biblical Research. My essay is one of 12 undertaking an analysis and defense of Jesus' historical mission, which are being collected and edited by D. Bock and R. Webb and to be published in the WUNT series (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck).
2 R. Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament (one vol. ed.; trans. Kendrick Grobel; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1951), 26; cf. R. Bultmann, The History of the Synoptic Tradition (trans. John Marsh; 1931; rev. ed.; 1963; New York: Harper & Row, 1976), 257–59.
3 H. Conzelmann, An Outline of the Theology of the New Testament (2nd ed.; 1968; trans. John Bowden; London: SCM, 1969), 130.
4 R. W. Funk and the Jesus Seminar, The Acts of Jesus: The Search for the Authentic Deeds of Jesus (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), 104.
5 R. W. Funk, R. W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus (New York: Macmillan, 1993), 75; Funk et al., Acts of Jesus, 104, 218, 303.
6 Funk et al., Acts of Jesus, 36–37.
7 B. L. Mack, A Myth of Innocence: Mark and Christian Origins (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988), 282–83. He surmises that after the failed Jewish War of the late sixties Mark fabricated the incident of Peter's declaration and the Passion prediction after the destruction of the temple in AD 70 in part to counter enthusiasm for messianic uprisings after the tragic events of the failed Jewish War.
8 ?J. P. Meier, “Criteria: How Do We Decide What Comes from Jesus?” A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus—Volume One: The Roots of the Problem and the Person (Anchor Bible Reference Library; New York: Doubleday, 1991), 167–95.
9 C. A. Evans, “Recent Developments in Jesus Research: Presuppositions, Criteria, and Sources,” Jesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies (Leiden: Brill, 2001), 1–49; esp. 13–26.
10 Evans, Jesus and His Contemporaries, 22–23; cf. Meier, A Marginal Jew, 1:180.
11 Matthew has “into the parts [eis ta merē] of Caesarea Philippi,” focusing on the villages that would be included in the larger district, as he did in 15:21; cf. BADG 633; W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Matthew, vol. 2: A Commentary on Matthew VIII–XVIII (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1991), 616.
12 H. F. Bayer, Jesus' Predictions of Vindication and Resurrection: The Provenance, Meaning, and Correlation of the Synoptic Predictions (WUNT 2/20; Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr [P. Siebeck], 1986), 155; C. A. Evans, Mark 8:27–16:20 (WBC 34b; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001), 10, 13.
13 Bayer, Jesus' Predictions, 155; R. H. Gundry, Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 425–26.
14 J. D. G. Dunn, Jesus Remembered, vol. 1: Christianity in the Making (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 644–45.
15 For discussion see Evans, Jesus and His Contemporaries, 18–19; Meier, A Marginal Jew, 1:168–71.
16 Meier, A Marginal Jew, 1:168.
17 This criterion especially asks what words and activities fit in with and explain Jesus' trial and crucifixion as “King of the Jews,” which Evans contends is “the single most important feature that must be taken into account in any work that wishes to be taken seriously”; cf. Evans, Jesus and His Contemporaries, 13–14.
18 Meier, A Marginal Jew, 1:177.
19 Matt 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19.
20 Cf. S. McKnight, “Jesus and the Twelve,” Bulletin of Biblical Research 11/2 (2001): 203–31.
21 Cf. Deut 18:18; 33:5; 4QTest (175) 5–8. C. S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003), 669–71.
22 P. N. Anderson, The Christology of the Fourth Gospel: Its Unity and Disunity in the Light of John 6 (rpt; 1996; Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1997), 177. Of the 16 times that the term basileus (“king”) occurs in John's Gospel, it never is used by Jesus to refer to Himself.
23 Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John: Introduction, Translation, and Notes (2 vols; Anchor Bible Commentary 29; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966), 1:249–50.
24 Matt 14:13; cf. Mark 6:31–32; Luke 9:10.
25 E.g., Josephus War 2.261–63; Ant 17.273–74; 20.97–98; 169–71.
26 Cf. Anderson, Christology of the Fourth Gospel, 177–79; Keener, John, 1:670–71.
27 B. Lindars, The Gospel of John (New Century Bible Commentary; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972), 244.
28 L. W. Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 57.
29 This is adapted from M. J. Wilkins, Matthew (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), 844–45.
30 D. Tidball, The Message of the Cross: Wisdom Unsearchable, Love Indestructible (The Bible Speaks Today; Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2000), 134.