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."
Mark 8:33
Peter often didn't seem to get it! Perhaps the other disciples were similarly confused. Jesus had been letting all of them know—prophesizing—the fate that been assigned to Him.
Jesus was Peter's friend, as He is to all of us who choose to acknowledge Him, but in this instance Peter failed to accept the divinity of Christ as well as the mission to mankind that had been assigned to Him. In his desire to appeal to the fully secular Jesus, he, in effect, was asking Christ to reject His divine mission.
Peter reacted in a purely human way. We, too, sometimes fail in this way.
God has let us know through His Word and His Son that He loves us. He's always aware of our problems and He cares about them. But, how often do we implore Christ to show his love by concentrating on our earthly dilemmas. In our pleas we sometimes fail to remember that His last command to us, just before His ascension, was to go forth and make disciples of all men: to evangelize, to do God's work. Our day-to-day tasks and problems are certainly important, but shouldn't our first prayers have to do with showing our love for Him by having the strength and courage to work on the commission He's given to us?
Jesus rebuked Peter, just as He rebuked Satan when Satan tempted Jesus after Jesus' baptism. How often are we deserving of our own rebuke?
Charlie Wolf (2008)
