Mark 8:33 “But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
Wow, I would not have wanted to be Peter on this particular day! Imagine the Son of God addressing you personally, and… Satan personally in the same phrase! This verse is potent in its tension as Jesus takes a strong and confrontational stand against the temptations being presented to Him through the voice of one of His close friends and disciples.
More than most other single verses in the scriptures this passage is layered with insights that can impart wisdom for us in our pursuit of a focused life. Jesus is in the midst of His journey to the cross of Calvary. He knows His days are short and that He will soon undergo a great trial of suffering and betrayal. The Lord is seeking to prepare all of His disciples to endure this trial with Him so that they will not despair and lose faith at the loss of their leader in death. As a result Peter’s words are not just an attack against His own personal focus, they are a subtle attempt of the enemy to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of His followers so that they will lose heart between the death of Christ and the time of His resurrection. It is for this reason that Jesus wastes no time in putting a stop to this expression of wrong values.
Each person who follows the Lord Jesus will at times be asked to do those things that to the human mind may seem contradictory to our wisdom. This is a reflection of what James teaches as he contrasts the wisdom that is earthly, sensual and devilish with the wisdom from above that carries with it the nature of the kingdom of God. Jesus is speaking to His disciples of things that in terms of human reasoning do not make sense and yet they are rich with God’s purpose and destiny. The Lord immediately recognizes the source of the logic that Peter is using and confronts the demonic influence that is speaking from Peter in this moment. This brings us to the reality that even good, godly people can become the mouthpiece of evil simply by allowing their minds to function on the level of human reasoning apart from the Spirit of God. Imagine that; an otherwise godly person can become the voice of Satan during a particular event if they allow their thoughts to spring from the wrong source.
Every believer who is living in pursuit of God’s purpose must take this lesson to heart and learn the reality that even our friends can become a distraction from God’s purposes. Even other leaders can become diluting force that robs those who follow us of the resolute conviction that is needed to make it through the hard times. If Satan can plant in the minds of those we are walking with the thought that perhaps we have made a bad decision and that is why things are difficult right now then our capacity for unity under trial is greatly damaged.
The reaction of Jesus to Peter’s words should be a lesson to every leader. Jesus assesses the words of Peter very quickly. He wastes no time in considering the source of these words and the impact they will have on the rest of His disciples. Verse 33 tells us that Jesus turned and looked at all of His disciples before addressing Peter/Satan. He sees the tension in the air as the disciples wait to see the Lord’s reaction to Peter’s rebuke. In one short response Jesus speaks on two levels. Immediately He addresses Satan who He discerns is now speaking from the mouth of Peter, one of His closest friends and strongest allies! He commands Satan to “get behind” him, silencing this line of reasoning before it can go any further. In His second phrase He also identifies how this demonic interference is able to operate through even a believer: “you don’t have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” It’s a problem of the mind! When we let the wrong values become the focus of our thought life it becomes fertile ground for the seeds of demonic influence!
Jesus demonstrates how to rebuke this carnal thinking and resist the influence of Satan in this one passage. He does not shelter Peter from this strong rebuke. He confronts directly and firmly! In this moment He esteems the importance of breaking the power of these words over protecting Peter from embarrassment or humiliation. So much so that this encounter has been recorded in scripture for the last 2000 years for all to read! Imagine this fact that God would allow one man’s mistakes to become the training ground for the rest of His disciples for thousands of years. Obviously what He places value on in this situation is something greater than protecting Peter’s ego or bruised feelings. This passage more than many demonstrates the truth of Isa 55:9 that declares "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
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