Today we have the confession of Peter as Luke tells it. As often happens in Luke before important occasions, we are told that Jesus was "praying in seclusion" when he asked his disciples who the crowds thought Jesus was. They answered - some were saying John the Baptist, others Elijah (who was expected to return to earth on the eve of the Messiah's appearance) or some other prophet who had returned from the dead. Then he asks them who they think Jesus is. And Peter, speaking in the name of all, says unequivocally: "The Messiah of God." In Greek the word 'Messiah' is translated 'Christos'. In other words, Jesus is the long-expected Saviour King who would liberate the Jewish people from all their enemies. It must have been a terribly exciting moment for the disciples. What an extraordinary privilege for these simple fishermen! But then, surely to their great surprise, they are told not to say anything about it to anyone. Because the people are not ready. They are not ready for the kind of Messiah that Jesus is going to be. Because Jesus as Messiah is to endure many sufferings, be rejected by the leaders of their own people and be put to death before rising in glory. Even the disciples are deeply shocked and totally unprepared for this. We, too, must be ready to find Jesus in and through the sufferings we ourselves experience.