Robin Hardy Online
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
"Jesus turned to Peter and said, 'Get behind me, Satan!'" (Matt. 16:23)
This is a strange passage. Just a few verses previous (Matt. 16:13-20), Peter made his great confession of faith which prompted Jesus to pronounce him blessed, name him "The Rock," confirm the divine source of his insight, and confer on him almost extravagant authority. Then He immediately turned around and denounced him as Satan! What happened?
Let's look. "From that time on [following Peter's great confession] Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." (Matt. 16:21)
This was way more than the disciples could take in (which is why Jesus repeated Himself on this issue up till the night it happened). All Peter comprehended from this speech is that Jesus was saying that very bad things were going to happen to Him. Peter was horrified by the thought, as any friend of Jesus would be. So he took it upon himself to correct the Master: "Peter took him aside [not wanting to embarrass Him in front of the other disciples] and began to rebuke him. 'Never, Lord!' he said. 'This shall never happen to you!'" (v. 22)
Peter spoke without authority or knowledge. So (reading between the lines) Satan entered his words to take a dig at Jesus: See? Your best disciple doesn't believe in you, or understand you. You're wasting your time. You'll die futilely. This mission is hopeless, give it up.
In response, Jesus delivered the rebuke to the evil spirit that had freeloaded on careless words: "'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.'" Peter wasn't Satan, but he gave Satan--"the adversary"--a voice. Satan's purposes are adverse to God's.
Matthew recorded this incident (as did Mark, in 8:31-33) not to embarrass Peter, but to warn us about the same thing. What happened to Peter is what happens to most of us when we speak without thinking. Satan takes advantage of any opening anywhere—in careless actions, careless words, careless thoughts—to wreak havoc. Most adults understand that it is not a good idea to act on every impulse that flits across our brains. But since we underestimate the power of words, we tend to be less discerning when it comes to saying whatever crosses our minds.
Sarcasm will blow any argument out of control. Reminding someone of his sins will discourage him from trying to live free of them. Skepticism can be a faith-killer. Light handling of someone's hurts will reopen the wounds. Did you ever wonder at the harshness of Jesus' warning, "I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken"? (Matt. 12:36) Our careless words turn us into mouthpieces for Satan.
You may notice I haven't mentioned cruelty, lying, or gossip--words that are not simply careless, but deliberate efforts to wound or mislead, as Satan does. So when you have someone who willingly emulates Satan, you go from a Peter to a Judas. Peter's bitter repentance brought healing; Judas' did not, and the final result of their actions proved the difference (as Jesus saw beforehand with both Peter and Judas).
Lest we pity Peter in his humiliation at Jesus' rebuke, the very next chapter (Matt. 17) records the disciple's great privilege in witnessing the Transfiguration. (True, Peter managed to embarrass himself again, but not as badly.)
To help us avoid this trap, Scripture tells us to speak words of kindness, encouragement and praise, because these are vehicles of God's Spirit. Paul reminds us to pray constantly so that we will be alert to check stupidity, verbal or otherwise. We have great power to air supernatural grace if we just choose to exercise it.
posted Aug. 26, 2006 by Robin Hardy
