Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:31-38, NRSV)
If you want to follow Jesus, you must lay down your life, take up your cross and follow Him.
If you try to save your life, you will lose it, but if you lay it down and lose yourself in His life, then you will gain His life!
You see Peter said to Jesus what He was saying could not be. That the plan that Jesus had from the Father was not the actual plan and that Peter had it all worked out.
And isn’t that how all of us are?
So Jesus reminded Peter of what he told him back on the shore when they first met, ὀπίσω μου, or Get behind me… Or as we read it back at the beginning of Mark, Follow me…
You see the proper perspective is what we need. Peter had his mind-set on the plan he wanted to happen and could not allow God’s plan to be made known. He needed to see the back of Jesus’ head to get back into place.
So follow Jesus and don’t let your plan get in the way of God’s.
aSacredRebel 