From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, 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 will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:21-28, NRSVue)
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, σατανᾶ.” Which translates to “Get behind me, Satan.” I always find this interesting because Jesus uses the phrase “ὀπίσω μου” earlier in the gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 4, Jesus was walking along the shoreline and saw Peter and Andrew and James and John, and he said to them, “ὀπίσω μου,” Follow me.
Peter here thinks he knows what is best and what needs to happen with Jesus. He does not understand what will happen and wants it to play out the way he thinks it should.
Peter does not get it like we so often do not get it.
When we follow Jesus, we need to know our place and not think of it as walking with a friend; not that Jesus is not our friend, but that Jesus is our lord and God. We are following where he leads and doing what he tells us to do, and when that happens and we are in our proper place, we will see the back of his head. He is the leader, and we go where he leads, not the other way around.
Know your place and look for the back of Jesus’ head.
aSacredRebel 