“Get Behind Me, Satan!” – Mark 8:31-38
Jesus had just been recognized by Peter as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Following this revelation, Jesus began to teach about His upcoming suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection.
Mark 8:31-32: He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
Wait, what? Peter rebuked Jesus? How could Peter, having just declared Jesus as the Messiah, think he knows better?
Mark 8:33: But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Wow! Jesus called out Peter’s rebuke as coming from Satan. Ouch! Peter’s vision was of a conquering Messiah, not a suffering one. He wanted to protect Jesus from pain, but his perspective was human, not divine.
Just like Peter, we often push back against God’s plans when they don’t align with our desires or when they involve suffering. We might not say it out loud, but in our hearts, we challenge God’s way, thinking we have a better plan.
But Jesus was focused on something far greater – not just the next few years, but eternity. His mission was for all mankind, for all time, not just to defeat Rome.
Mark 8:34-37: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
Jesus wasn’t just talking about His own path; He was telling us we must also be willing to lay down our lives for the eternal rather than the temporary.
Peter’s plan would have given them a brief kingdom, but Jesus’ death and resurrection opened eternal life for all.
So, when we start questioning God’s plan, we need to ask: Are we focusing on the things of men or the things of God? If it’s the former, we might just hear Jesus say, “Get behind me, Satan!” Let’s trust in God’s way, even if it cost us everything in this life, He has something much greater in mind.
