Matthew 16:21-23

Matthew 16:21-23

From that time Jesus began to make it clear to His disciples that it is necessary for Him to go into Jerusalem and to suffer much from the elders and the high priests and scribes and to be killed and to be raised up on the third day.  And after Peter took Him aside he began to rebuke Him while saying, “May God be merciful to you, Lord!  This will surely not be for you!”  But the one who turned said to Peter, “Depart behind me, Satan!  You are my stumbling block because you do not fix your attention upon the things of God but rather the things of mankind.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

We often miss a very important word here in this passage because we rush to the interaction between Peter and Jesus.  The Bible tells us that it is at this time that Jesus began to make things clear.  Here with Jesus’ disciples He begins to get very clear and very bold in His proclamation.  He tells them that He is going to Jerusalem.  He tells them that He is going to suffer.  He even tells them that He is going to die.  He tells them that He is going to be raised up on the third day.  But it is at this point that Jesus becomes very clear.  When the path of God becomes short and inevitable, there is no reason to do anything except be pointed and blunt and clear.

Have you ever been in a very serious time in your life for change?  Why is it easiest to be blunt and honest in such times?  Why would Jesus want to be especially clear at this point in His ministry?

Second Thought:

As we now turn to Peter’s reply, let’s look at how he begins.  We often lose this expression and focus on how he ends.  But Peter begins by saying, “May God be merciful to you, Lord!”  Notice that Peter is speaking because he wants to see Jesus receive mercy.  Peter isn’t speaking because he wants to counter God’s plan; Peter is speaking because He wants to see mercy come to a person that he loves.  He doesn’t want to see the person he loves suffer.  His motivation here is kind and gentle-hearted.  However, he is still wrong.  We see here that sometimes even in seeking mercy we find ourselves contrary to God’s will.  There is a time and a place for mercy.  In fact, I would think that it is more often than not a time of mercy.  However, there are times when the hard and difficult is the road God wants us to walk.  What would Job’s story be without the hardship of Satan’s test?  What would Jesus’ ministry be without His death and resurrection?  What would Paul’s witness be without the persecution, imprisonments, shipwrecks, and stoning?  Often our message is strongest when like Christ we endure and conquer the worst that the world can throw at us.  This is the point Peter misses when he mistakenly puts mercy above God’s will.

Do you ever put mercy above God’s will?  Why is this an easy mistake to make – especially regarding people we care deeply about?

Third Thought:

Jesus’ rebuke of Peter makes this point especially clear.  Look at what Jesus tells Peter about his words.  He’s not focused on God’s will.  He’s focused on his own desires.  he’s focused on keeping Jesus from pain and suffering.  But what Peter doesn’t recognize is that he has also placed himself in between Jesus and God’s plan for bringing salvation to the world.  So Jesus rebukes Peter.  In fact, Jesus even calls Peter Satan because in this moment Peter is a stumbling block to Him!  Can you imagine such a comment?  What we see here is that if we are going to be in God’s will we need to focus on Him and His will rather than what we assume should be His will.  There’s nothing wrong with wanting the best for people – until it causes us to focus on our own desire and lose sight of what God is doing in the world.  We need to have our focus on God.

Where is your focus?  Have you ever lost for focus for what seemed like good reasons?  What can you do in your life to maintain your focus on God’s hand at work in the world around you?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 16:24-28