Jump Start # 1151

Matthew 16:23 “But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Our verse today is found in that powerful 16th chapter of Matthew. It is here that we find Peter’s confession of Christ. Others viewed Jesus as a powerful prophet or teacher, but Peter acknowledged that He was the Son of the Living God. It is also here that Jesus promises to build His church. It is built not upon Peter, but upon what Peter said, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It is here that the apostles are promised the keys to the kingdom. And it is here where Jesus tells of His coming death. He names the location, Jerusalem; He names the force behind it, the elders and chief priests; He identifies that He will suffer many things; He acknowledges that He will die; and, He states that He will be raised on the third day.

That is a lot for one section of Scripture. Hearing the news about His coming death, Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked Him, saying, “This shall never happen to You.” It is here that our verse follows.

Peter didn’t get it. This IS why Jesus came. He came to die as our Savior. If this NEVER happened, as Peter said, we would all be in our sins and headed for the ugly reality of Hell. The Lord’s response to Peter reminds us of two important principles.

First, Satan will use anyone or anything to get us. Peter wasn’t really Satan. Jesus knew that. He was acting like Satan. There is nothing Satan would love more than to have a Jesus on earth who never died for our sins. Years later, this same Peter would remind his readers to be on the alert because Satan prowls about like a lion. He’s on the hunt. He’s looking. Satan is powerful, wise, scheming and wicked. The Bible never states anything positive about Satan. He doesn’t play fair. He doesn’t go by the rules. And mostly, he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care that his temptations may wreck a marriage. It may send a church into chaos and division. He doesn’t care that what he does causes anxious moments and heartache. He loves to create a mess and he never sticks around to clean it up. It’s God who has to do that. After Adam and Eve sinned, where was the serpent? It was God who came, clothed them and dealt with the sin. In the story of the prodigal son, where was all the friends of the prodigal? Gone. It was the father who ran out to boy. In the parable of the lost sheep, it was the shepherd who went looking for the wayward sheep. God cleans up the mess that Satan causes.

The Lord referring to Peter as Satan reminds us how close Satan can be to us. Peter was one of the chosen. He was in the inner circle with James and John. Satan using Peter reminds us that he can use our friends, our family, our jobs, our neighborhoods, even brethren to influence us and tempt us. He loves to discourage us, make us forget that we are followers of Christ, make us feel unpopular.  Facebook can be wonderful and helpful or it can be a tool of Satan to get to you. Satan uses every available means to discourage you, tempt you, distract you and influence you. The books you read, the movies you see, the people you call friends—are all opportunities for Satan to get to you. This is why Peter says, “Be on the alert.” Be watching, because he’s watching you. Recognize him. See him in these things. Don’t let those who are close to you be the way that Satan gets you.

Second, Jesus told Peter that he was not setting his mind on God’s interests. God’s interests is the salvation of man. God is interested in redeeming us. Peter had his mind on man’s interests. Man is interested in safe and easy. Man looks for the uncomplicated way through things. Not God. Sin is messy. Sin is hard. Sin must be dealt with in a very serious fashion—the death of Jesus.

What a great statement this is. It could be asked in many different avenues. Do we have our minds on God’s interests or man’s interests? Are we minding God’s store or our store? Are we more concerned about our wellbeing than the wellbeing of the kingdom?

What is interesting about this passage, is that Jesus didn’t toss Peter out. He said, “Get behind Me, Satan.” Yet Peter remains. He wasn’t finished with Peter. Getting his mind back where it belonged, Peter would be useful and needful to the kingdom. There is a lesson for us. We too quickly and easily, toss a person out and are done with them for life. Defriended. Gone. We don’t give them a chance to do right. We fail to see that we’ve done the same ourselves. We do not allow them to change. Jesus did.

Keep your eyes open. Satan is knocking on your door. He’s hoping that you’ll open it, just this once.

Roger