Question: .

When Christ told Peter "get behind me Satan" do you think it was because Satan might have been using Peter to hurt Christ feelings? What I mean is, Christ knew there was nothing Peter could do to help him. I couldn't think of anything that would break my heart more than seeing one of my children trying to help me out of a bad situation knowing full well all along they couldn't. Do you think this was done by Satan to add insult to injury or is it something else? Thanks in advance.

- Dan

Answer:

Dear Dan,

This passage in Matthew 16 is a profoundly difficult passage for us. One of the first things we need to remember is that the disciples, including Peter, were thinking of Jesus in terms of a conquering king, the Messiah the Jews had anticipated. They wanted Jesus to be that, and to change their world NOW.

When Jesus insisted that his mission was not to conquer, but to give of himself on the cross, this suggested defeat, not victory. The Jews, all of the disciples, and Peter in particular, were sick and tired of defeat. But Jesus began to speak of the cross.

Peter reacted with violence "catching hold" of Jesus - which probably means in some physical way. Then comes what many call the "great rebuke" - get thee behind me Satan.

Jesus was simply going back to the temptation mentioned in Matthew 4 - that Satan had tempted him with giving up, compromising, giving the people what they wanted (instead of what they needed). And, of course, to the human side of the God-man Jesus this was appealing. No one wants a cross - no one wants to die in agony, alone, deserted. Jesus had been dealing with that temptation, no doubt night and day.

And now Peter says virtually the same thing. Satan, in this context, is any force or idea that runs counter to God's will. And what made this temptation more hurtful was that it came from Peter, whom Jesus loved. The hardest temptation of all is the one that comes from one close to us - who actually does not mean the temptation as a compromise, but sincerely out of love and affection. Real love, though, cannot stop suffering - it cannot hold on and protect, for there are times when those who follow Jesus must pick up their own cross and follow him.

I hope this sheds a little light on this traumatic moment - I don't believe that Jesus spoke these words out of anger, with a snarl and blazing eyes - but rather as a man who was wounded, with horror, and with grief - from a man who would not compromise, and was hurt that someone so close to him would suggest the same course of action as the adversary, Satan.

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht