Matthew 16:21-23 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 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.”
Peter is a stumbling block to Jesus. Jesus does not say that the words you just issued are a stumbling block to me, but Peter’s whole perspective of life at that moment was a stumbling block. Something that the Son of God had to avoid. Peter’s focus in life was not Jesus’ focus. Peter’s reason for living was not Jesus’ reason for living. The Lord knew what was ahead of him, and it wasn’t a better life here on earth. His immediate life would be one of torture, humiliation, and death on a rugged cross. Christ had the hounds of the Jewish elite on his heals: the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders of the society. The most powerful in the Jewish society were marshaled to kill him. Peter’s concern was not bad, for he loved Jesus, but it was not God’s will. Jesus’ reason for living was to birth new life, to bring all into the eternal presence of God as holy creatures. Peter’s words represented the maintaining of life as it was and to improve Jesus precarious situation by protecting him from those who hated him. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Peter’s eyes were clouded by his desire to help Jesus, but He had the Father’s will in mind to change humans into something more than mere flesh. As Paul wrote, But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7) Jesus knew his sacrifice would end a covenant made between God and man that was based on human effort to satisfy a righteous and holy Creator. This covenant of depending on self-will would end with the ultimate sacrifice of the divine Son of God. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would indicate the Creator’s great love for humans made in his image. Jesus, the perfect image of God, would hang on the cross at the hands of a people rebellious to God’s creative hand of making them from dust. Jesus was Lord, Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2: 6-8) If man could have upheld his half of the covenant of pleasing God through his efforts, the cross would never have been in Jesus’ life. Peter would have been right, “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” The cross would have been an anathema even to God, a hated symbol pointed at God’s heart. But fleshly betterment by following the old covenant could never bring the Holiness of God to humans: being perfect without any defect in personality, actions, or attitude. Man could not be perfect, but Jesus was perfect; therefore, He was the Lamb of God. Jesus was the flawless sacrifice, completely without blemish, without sin. He alone could end the old law with its inability to change the hearts of a disobedient people. In fact the Bible says that we are now God’s work through our belief in Jesus Christ’s work. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10) Now all people who have placed their trust in Jesus’ work and not theirs are God’s handiwork. He unites us as one people by ending our efforts to be right with God and instead placing our hope of resurrection to eternal life into God’s hands through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Peter’s way of correcting injustice was through his human effort: “Never Lord. This shall never happen to you!” But Jesus confronts him directly, rejecting his attitude of human strength doing the will of God. 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. Peter was thinking in terms of man’s ability to change things. All through the generations of the Jewish nation, the people would tell God, “We will do it!” We have the ability to follow the perfect law, not to sin, to be your people on earth. But they failed again and again because rebellion was deep in their spirits. Even though they willed to be as God wanted them to be, they could not fulfill the righteous demands of God on their lives. They failed so miserably that God dispersed them among the people of the world, first Israel and then Judea. Their disobedience to God’s law and regulations was so pervasive that they were an embarrassment to him: they even sacrificed their own children to other gods. The law and regulations could not hold back their rebellion to God’s ways. But Jesus came to fulfill the law, to put the law into practice in the hearts of men. He, the perfect Lamb, cleanses the hearts of believers, making them right with God, perfect in God’s sight. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. (Ephesians 2:15-16) All people everywhere could be right with God through Christ Jesus, and they could be at peace with each other, for the cross made a new people in the likeness of God the Father. Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (John 17:1-5) Peter’s will to help Jesus unknowingly was thwarting the plan of God to rescue people from their sins and rebellion. Of course, this is exactly what the devil was doing in the wilderness: distracting Jesus from his purpose on earth. But nothing this world could offer, even protection from harm, would distract Jesus from the will of the Father, and the Father’s will was the cross for the Lord.
After the resurrection, Peter would understand the words Jesus said to him about thinking only about human concerns. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, would give the first sermon on the efficacy of the cross. He would preach that God through the cross has made Jesus both Lord and Messiah. (Acts 2) We must ask ourselves these questions: Is Jesus our Lord and Savior? Do we really understand what the cross has done for us? So often, we slip out from underneath our responsibility to God by saying that we are free from our obligations to God because Jesus has paid it all for us. Yes, we are free indeed from the hooks of sin that will destroy our lives, but we still have obligations to reveal the Spirit’s work in us. And this takes effort, a will to carry our own cross. Are we servants or are we ruling every situation by our own fleshly needs? Are we saying that we will not permit certain aspects of our spiritual lives, such as serving our enemies. Peter’s will was to do good, “This will never happen to you, Lord, for I will not permit it.” But his will was not God’s will for Jesus’ life. His life was to be spent for people. What is the Father’s will for us? How do we know we are one with God? As Christ did the will of the Father, we too are to serve, we are to love, we are to care for others. This is oneness with God! This proves we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. The old covenant of the law and its regulations has passed away, for Christ has fulfilled it completely and continuously, but our service to God as new creatures in the body of Christ must be revealed through our lives. Serving others who have been made in the image of God is our responsibility as believers in Christ’s work on the cross. If we are people of faith, we will be about our Father’s business, his agenda, not ours. Peter thought he knew what was best for Jesus’ immediate future, but he was totally wrong, so wrong that Jesus addressed him as Satan. We who are IN CHRIST must be about the Father’s will and his agenda. James expounds on this idea of God’s will and agenda. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17) The engine of faith is the Holy Spirit. He is the motivator, the initiator of everything that is god-like. He does not leave you in the dark, not knowing what is good or right, but you must tune your mind to his voice, his ways. James is telling us we know what is good and right, the plan God has for people: to love others as ourselves. Peter loved Jesus, but he did not know the mystery of God: to bring all people to himself through the blood of Jesus Christ. We now on the other side of the resurrection of Jesus, know that the Good News is eternal life for all through the cross and peace with others through service to all. Bless you today as you serve your Lord and Savior.
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