When We Become as Satan
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to me. You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Matthew 16:23
On the heels of Peter’s great confession we find that he asserts himself into the eternal plan of God on the wrong side of good and evil. Christ had spoken about the necessity of the cross, about His death and resurrection, and Peter strenuously objected, “This shall not happen to You!” And then came the rebuke by Jesus. Peter did not understand the mind of God, but saw the entire situation from merely a human perspective, and it seems quite likely that this was due in part to the encouragement of Jesus that to Peter, and the other apostles, would be given the keys to the kingdom, with power to bind and unloose. So, he sought to bind the death of Christ from ever happening.
We may also act in a similar spirit when we seek to understand the plan of God from a mere human perspective. What were Peter’s mistakes and what are ours likely to be?
Peter underestimated the seriousness of sin and evil. Peter had hoped for improvement on the human condition by merely better teaching and by working a few miracles. Peter, like the crowds had done, saw Jesus more in terms of a political or educational Messiah. Though these matters are important in our world — good laws and good education — they will not change the nature of people in the way that God desires, and in the way that Christ had come to do. Jeremiah said of the false prophets, “They dress the wounds of my people as though they were not serious” (Jer. 8:11), and that is almost always the method of false prophets.
Peter thought that popularity, physical comfort, and long life were the goals of Christ. Following this exchange Christ taught on the matter of taking up our cross and following Him. His goals of His life were never to have the things that others want — longevity, comfort, riches, popularity — rather they were to do the will of God. And the one that follows Christ must also see through the deception of material possessions. There is a false teaching about in the church on these matters — that longevity is a sign of spirituality — and nothing could be further from the biblical teachings. Though peace with God and in one’s heart may improve our health, many through the centuries have burned out for Christ, serving Him in love and devotion that far excelled that of others. In Christ, as He is our Lord, we are given the privilege of enjoying all things (1 Cor. 3:22–23), but our goal is never materialistic, nor worldly, but for the glory of God.
Peter misconstrued the remedy of God for the sin of the world. Along with the other mistakes, Peter logically came to decide that the world was not such a bad place, especially with someone like Christ to teach and guide us. But he failed to grasp the what the scriptures proclaimed of the Messiah, “He poured out His soul unto death … He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). Christ came to do what we cannot do for ourselves — to die for the sins of the world, to reconcile us to the Father, to make intercession for us.
In the life of the Christian there is the constant call of God to consider the seriousness of the world’s problems, to see past the deception of the world’s riches, and to see that in Christ is our redemption and through Christ is the hope of the world. The direction of our life must be first and foremost for the glory of God, for the redemption that comes into the world through Christ, and for a true and spiritual life of joy and peace by the Holy Spirit.
Our voice may be gentle. Our lives may be peaceful and gracious. Our ways may even appear on the outside similar to the way the world acts — at least from time to time. Yet our hearts must know differently. We do not and cannot live like other people — a mere worldly perspective no longer satisfies us. The hope of the world is Jesus Christ — in His death is forgiveness, in His resurrection is life eternal, in His Spirit and His Word are wisdom and perspective, and in His presence is the immeasurable peace of God. And we have made this our hope and our eternal desire as well.
