From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Matthew 16: 21-23, NKJV.
Dear God, as we enter the study of Your Word, please remain with us and help us to grasp the lesson that is in it for each person. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.
This is a very interesting chapter. Great truths, of life-transforming proportions are being revealed to the disciples. The first and greatest revelation of all, is that of Jesus’ identity. “God the Father,” says Jesus to Peter, “is the One who has revealed who I AM to you. This is not the work of humanity” (13-17).
Next, is the revelation of the power behind the invincibility of the church – its foundations rest on the Rock, – Christ Jesus. Not even the clanging (threatening) of the gates of hell can cause it to move one iota. As such, it will be given binding power, and loosing power (18, 19).
Then there is the “unpleasant” revelation of Jesus’ impending death. Whenever the subject is mentioned all the disciples seem to go into a deaf mode. Not this time, however. Peter calls Jesus apart from the other disciples to “set the record straight:” “Enough of this talk about You dying! It will not happen!” Now it is Jesus’ time to put the Adversary in his place, for using Peter as his medium, just as he used the serpent, in the Garden of Eden: “Get behind me Satan” (21-23)
Finally, Jesus reveals His method of rewarding: In order to live, you must first be willing to die; “for it is in dying” that we are [truly] made alive (24-26). This is going to prove to be very valuable advice for the disciples when they have to die to their ambitious dreams of being the governing body, of Christ’s kingdom here on earth! Some will even be asked to give their lives – for the sake of the gospel.
Today, I will deal, not with one of the revelations, but with Jesus’ words to Peter. We will look at two aspects of Jesus’ response to Peter’s rebuke. Therefore, I will divide the response into two parts: “But He turned and said to Peter, ‘ “Get behind Me, Satan! . . .” ‘ I imagine there are varying opinions about who Jesus is talking to – Is He talking to Peter, or, is He talking to Satan? I have given this some thought, and came to an opinion, but I wanted to be certain, so I did a word search, and this is my conclusion: He was speaking to both Peter and the Adversary.
1) In saying to Peter, “you get behind me Satan,” the Savior was speaking to the Adversary, who had used Peter as his medium to say what he said. The word, Satanas, in this instance, is used, “As present in men – tempting them to evil” (Hebrew – Greek KEY WORD Study Bible, pg. 2238).
Hence, the title of our devotional for today: Guarding The Avenues Of the Soul. If we are not careful, in guarding well, the entrance to our minds and mouths, the enemy of our souls will use us as his mediums. Our intentions may be good, but if the words are wrong, the entire situation may end in a total loss!
2) ” . . . You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” “You are not helping the situation Peter. You are so caught up in your agenda of an earthly kingdom, that you cannot appreciate the nature of the kingdom of heaven.” The meaning of the word phroneo, “To set one’s mind on, to be devoted to” (Ibid, pg 2272), bears out this idea. We know that the very night that Jesus was taken into custody for trial and then to be crucified, hours earlier, Peter and the other disciples were caught up in a debate regarding – who should be the greatest in the kingdom (Luke 22: 24)!
If we are not careful, we too, could become mediums to the master sorcerer. So let us guard well, the avenues to our souls.
We will say more on the chapter where our passage of Scripture is found.