Get thee behind me
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” –Matthew 16:23 (NIV)
Wow! Pretty harsh. Directed at the same Peter who shortly before had correctly identified Jesus as the Messiah, the Anointed Chosen One of Israel, the very revelation of God’s promise to redeem the nation and bless the entire world. What ignited such a sharp response?
It was Peter’s rebuke of the Master as He described His kingship: “OK – you guys understand who I am. We’re not ready to spread that around yet, but you’re right and that’s good. Now let me tell you how this plays out.” He then related how the religious authorities would scheme to kill Him. But not to worry – He would soon rise from the dead. It was all too much for Peter.
Jesus heard Peter’s rebuke as eerily similar to an offer He’d received just before beginning His ministry: The offer of the crown without the cross.
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” –Matthew 4:8-9 (NIV)
Peter and the other apostles had left work and family, and hitched their wagon to this rabbi in hopes that He was something special. Over time, they came to know Him as a prophet, someone unafraid to challenge the religious and cultural status quo. Ultimately, they recognized Him as the Promised One.
As such, they began to see themselves on the ground floor of a revolution, overthrowing centuries of foreign rule and restoring the glory of Israel, probably with direct intervention from God on behalf of His people and their king. The scenario Jesus explained didn’t sound like “king talk” to Peter.
It sounded more like giving up and resigning yourself to go down in flames. Just when you’d attracted enough of a following to begin imagining what a cabinet might look like under the new leadership. Frankly, they were a little late in the game to be getting cold feet.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage…. –Philippians 2:5-6 (NIV)
The implication of what Jesus was saying meant death, not only for Himself, but for those insiders who had followed Him and might get clever ideas of rallying around the cause of their martyred leader. Jesus ought not talk that way! Surely that couldn’t be what He had in mind!
Oh, but it was. He was to be a different kind of king ruling a different kind of kingdom. Peter’s wake-up call has to be ours as well. There is no crown without the cross in the Kingdom of Christ. For the King or His disciples. There are many eager to claim the salvation of Christ, fewer who embrace His Lordship.
Dying to self is both harder and better than we could’ve imagined. It requires seeing beyond what is visible.
In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. –Daniel 7:13-14 (NIV)