Chapter LIII.—Of the Occasion on Which He Asked the Disciples Whom Men Said that He Was; And of the Question Whether, with Regard Either to the Subject-Matter or the Order, There are Any Discrepancies Between Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

108. Matthew continues thus: “And Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi; and He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I,589    Some editions omit the me in quem me dicum, etc., and make it = Whom do men say that the Son of man is? the Son of man, am? And they said, Some say that Thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets;” and so on, down to the words, “And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”590    Matt. xvi. 13–19. Mark relates this nearly in the same order. But he has brought in before it a narrative which is given by him alone,—namely, that regarding the giving of sight to that blind man who said to the Lord, “I see men as trees walking.”591    Mark viii. 22–29. Luke, again, also records this incident, inserting it after his account of the miracle of the five loaves;592    Luke ix. 18–20. and, as we have already shown above, the order of recollection which is followed in his case is not antagonistic to the order adopted by these others. Some difficulty, however, may be imagined in the circumstance that Luke’s representation bears that the Lord put this question, as to whom men held Him to be, to His disciples at a time when He was alone praying, and when His disciples were also with Him; whereas Mark, on the other hand, tells us that the question was put by Him to the disciples when they were on the way. But this will be a difficulty only to the man who has never prayed on the way.593    Adopting, with the Ratisbon mss., eum movet qui nunquam oravit in via. Another reading is, eum movet qui putat nunquam, etc. = a difficulty to the man who thinks He never prayed on the way.

109. I recollect having already stated that no one should suppose that Peter received that name for the first time on the occasion when He said to Him, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” For the time at which he did obtain this name was that referred to by John, when he mentions that he was addressed in these terms: “Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is, by interpretation, Peter.”594    John i. 42. Hence, too, we are as little to think that Peter got this designation on the occasion to which Mark alludes, when he recounts the twelve apostles individually by name, and tells us how James and John were called the sons of thunder, merely on the ground that in that passage he has recorded the fact that He surnamed him Peter.595    Mark iii. 16–19. For that circumstance is noticed there simply because it was suggested to the writer’s recollection at that particular point, and not because it took place in actual fact at that specific time.

CAPUT LIII. Cum interrogavit discipulos, quem illum dicerent homines, utrum nihil inter se repugnent Matthaeus, Marcus et Lucas, rebus aut ordine.

108. Sequitur Matthaeus: Venit autem Jesus in partes Caesareae Philippi, et interrogabat discipulos suos dicens: Quem medicunt homines esse Filium hominis? At illi dixerunt: Alii Joannem Baptistam, alii autem Eliam, alii vero Jeremiam, aut unum ex Prophetis,1132 etc., usque ad illud ubi ait, Et quodcumque solveris super terram, erit solutum et in coelis (Matth. XVI, 13-19). Hoc eodem pene ordine Marcus narrat, sed interposuit primo de caeco illuminato, quod solus ipse commemorat, de illo qui dixit Domino, Video homines sicut arbores ambulantes (Marc. VIII, 22-29). Lucas autem post miraculum illud de quinque panibus hoc recordatur, atque inserit (Luc. IX, 18-20): cujus recordationis ordo, sicut supra jam ostendimus, nihil repugnat ordini istorum. Sed potest illud movere, quod Lucas Dominum interrogasse discipulos suos, quem illum dicerent homines, tunc dixit, cum esset solus orans, et adessent etiam ipsi: porro autem Marcus in via dicit illos hoc ab eodem interrogatos. Sed eum movet, qui nunquam oravit in via .

109. Jam etiam dixisse me recolo, ne quis arbitretur quod hic Petrus nomen acceperit, ubi illi ait, Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam. Non enim accepit hoc nomen, nisi ubi Joannes commemorat ei dictum esse, Tu vocaberis Cephas, quod interpretatur Petrus (Joan. I, 42). Unde nec illo loco, ubi Marcus duodecim discipulos nominatim commemorans, dixit appellatos Jacobum et Joannem filios tonitrui, arbitrandum est nomen accepisse Petrum; quia dixit illic quod imposuerit ei nomen ut vocaretur Petrus (Marc. III, 16-19): hoc enim recolendo dixit, non quod tunc factum sit.