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a portrait of jesus |
A PORTRAIT OF JESUS – Rebuking
Satan
“Get behind me, Satan! For you
are not on the side of God, but of men.”
Mark
Peter and Jesus were the closest of friends. Peter loved Jesus, therefore, hearing what Jesus was saying, that He must suffer and die, must have been terrible words for Peter to hear. What had they been doing for the last 3 years? Was it all for nothing? His mind went wild. Jesus also said that He was going to rise from the dead, but as soon as Peter heard the word, die, he tuned out. He couldn’t accept what he was hearing!
Peter did not want to consider for a moment Jesus’ words, and so Peter rebuked the Lord! In the Gospel of Mark, we are not told what Peter said, though we can guess that his words must have contained the frustration you might feel when you think someone you love is making a bad decision and “throwing their life away.” Jesus’ words were destroying Peter’s vision of what he thought was God’s will. We can be sure that Peter reacted out of deep love for Jesus and not wanting to lose Him; not out of blatantly evil words of rebuke with a wrong motive. Jesus heard Peter’s words knowing the love and concern in Peter’s heart, within the beauty of friendship; but also as the temptation to be less than the person He was called to be, and to walk away from suffering and escape what His Father has called Him to do. Thus, came those words now so familiar to us, words we sometimes use ourselves: “Get thee behind me, Satan.” Despite Jesus love for Peter, despite their friendship and the love that prompted Peter’s rebuke, Jesus recognizes the Tempter, Satan, and without hesitation addresses him as well as Peter.
Satan can be
subtle…he can use our friends, those we work with and those we love, to draw us
away from God’s plan for our lives. We also need to be careful that out of love
for others we don’t get in God’s way in their lives. May the actions here of our Savior be a lesson
to us when we need to address Satan’s temptations without hesitation! There is
no question that we need to keep our eyes focused on God’s plan for us. It is
only by keeping the vision clearly before us that we will, like Jesus, be able
to recognize the subtlety of the devil, sneaking into the words of those we
love, attempting to entrap us with hollow promises of earthly reasoning and
rationalization. May God grant us the strength of our Lord
and Savior when we are tempted to say, “Get
thee behind me, Satan.”
D.
Mathewson