Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Matthew 16:22-23
In verse 17 of this same chapter, Jesus said to Peter, “Blessed are you” in response to Peter’s great confession, “Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God.” I can imagine that Peter was a bit puffed up by Jesus’ pronouncement upon him and the very next thing Peter said was a rebuke against Jesus.
Peter made an all too common mistake of speaking from the heart rather than from the Spirit. People’s hearts are controlled by wants and desires and not necessarily in agreement with Holy Spirit. A mother’s heart wants her children to never face hardships, but hardships are often necessary for spiritual growth. A person’s heart is also easily influenced and used by satan to try to thwart a move of the Spirit.
Jesus was not saying here that Peter was satan, but, rather, He was identifying where the rebuke originated. Well-meaning friends will often try to persuade us not to follow God’s direction by pointing out that we would have to give up some things or possibly put our families through some hardship. Identify the source and resolve to follow God’s plan.
Dan
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