Matthew 16:14

And they said, Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

How amazing that none of the popular beliefs at that times identified Christ as the Messiah! That showed how effective the Pharisees had been in their evil campaign against Christ. Many had at first recognized him as the Messiah (John 1:42; 4:30); but Satan, in the manner of the parable, had come and stolen the truth out of their hearts. Satan had sufficiently eroded the image of the Lord that no popular opinion prevailed to the effect that he was the Christ.

Unbelievers still use that temporary advantage which Satan had gained, as noted in the perennial objection alleged by skeptics and infidels that the synoptics are in conflict with John's gospel. As Robertson stated it:

They hold that the other gospels here utterly conflict with John, who represents the first disciples as believing that Jesus was the Messiah. ... But it is easy to suppose that their early faith in his Messiahship was shaken by his continued failure to gather armies and set up the expected temporal kingdom.[4]

Dummelow made the same analysis:

This belief (that he was the Messiah) no longer existed. Those who held it had abandoned it because of his continued refusal to declare himself and to do what was expected of the Messiah.[5]

That erosion and blurring of the truth that Christ was the Messiah had reached such proportions that Christ, as we have just seen, even warned the apostles to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Even in the remaining popular opinions of Jesus, however, the splendor and glory of his wonderful life were reflected in the fact that popular fancy had recourse to the annals of the righteous dead to find one worthy of comparison with Jesus. Elijah, John the Baptist, Jeremiah, along with the other prophets, constituted the roll of Jewish immortals, the mighty heroes of the people. Thus, the opinions of the people were unanimous in according high status to Jesus. They failed only in this: they did not accord him the HIGHEST status. Satan's devices at that point had triumphed for a while. Satan was perfectly willing for Christ to be "some great one," as long as he remained unrecognized as the Greatest One.

Origen's commentary on Matthew has an elaboration of the false opinions concerning Jesus, showing that if the people had attended what Jesus had publicly said, their errors would have been avoided. For example, those who held that Christ was Elijah should have known that Christ had identified John the Baptist as "that Elijah" who was to come.

[4] A. T. Robertson, Harmony of the Gospels (New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1922), p. 99.

[5] J. R. Dummelow, loc. cit.