Mark 8:31-33

Passage

Jesus began to teach His disciples that he is going to suffer, be rejected by the Jewish leaders, be killed, and after three days Jesus would rise again from the dead.  Jesus taught this plainly to His disciples, not in a parable.  Peter took Jesus aside and began to express some very strong disapproval to what Jesus was teaching.  Jesus turned to face His disciples and in turn expressed strong disapproval of how Peter was behaving.  Jesus tells Peter, “Get behind me, adversary.  You are not setting your mind on what God wants for you but instead on what you want for yourself.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus teaches His disciples plainly about what is going to happen.  This is such an important point for academic students of the Bible like me – and probably you – to understand.  Jesus was there to tell God’s plan to the disciples.  He told them pretty much the whole plan step-by-step.  He told it to them plainly.  They heard it, didn’t like it, and rejected it.  They didn’t understand what God was doing; yet they were there to hear it literally come out of the mouth of God!  In fact, because they hear it now they are guilty of flat out rejecting it because it isn’t what they wanted to hear!

Have you ever wished God would tell you His plans ahead of time and make it clear?  Have you ever considered that it really may not matter because chances are we wouldn’t understand them anyways?  What can this point teach us about human pride and arrogance?  What can this point teach academic people like me and you about what we really and truly understand?  How can this story help us understand that what is important is not knowing the plan, but being open to whatever God is doing?

Second Thought:

Peter rebukes Jesus.  He expresses a very strong opposition to what Jesus is saying.  Now, in some respects this makes absolute sense.  Peter has come to love Jesus.  But it is deeper than that.  Peter has voluntarily chosen to leave everything to follow Jesus.  Now only a few years into that arrangement Jesus tells Peter that he’s going to die?  Peter was probably looking for a life-long stable mentoring friendship here.  That is not what Jesus gives Him – well, not in the way that Peter can see at this point in His life.  Of course Peter opposes what Jesus is saying.  It is absolutely not that which Peter thought he was signing up!

Why do we tend to oppose things that are contrary to the direction that we want to go?  Why do we continue to oppose those things when we know that they are coming from God even?  What can this part of the story teach us about human pride and arrogance in our understanding?

Third Thought:

Jesus rebukes Peter.  He rebukes him quite hard.  Jesus tells Peter that at this point in time Peter is Jesus’ adversary.  Imagine being called Jesus’ adversary.  How much must that sting!  But that is precisely what Peter has done.  Peter has stamped his foot onto the ground and said, “Not what I want.”  Jesus turns to Peter, sets His face hard against him, and says, “Don’t forget that what God wants is always better than what you want.”  I can only imagine how hard Peter swallowed after being told this truth.  It doesn’t mean it was easy to hear.  But it was true.  It was what Peter needed to hear.

When have you been an adversary to Christ?  How have you responded to those times?

ASIDE: Technically, Jesus does say, “Get behind me, Satan.”  The word “satan” is a word that means adversary.  It also can be used as a title.  In some respects, it’s like pastor, or president, or secretary.  I can be a pastor (meaning that I am charge with teaching the Word to others and encouraging them to do the same).  But I can also be called “Pastor.”  This is the same thing here.  Jesus uses the word, “Satan” but we should not assume that Peter has become possessed by Satan.  Peter is certainly following the ways of the world, but that doesn’t mean that he is voluntarily in league with Satan at this point.

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 8:34-35