Matthew 16:22-23 (NKJV) 22Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” 23But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
In our last post we looked at Matthew 16:13-20. After asking two important questions of his disciples only Peter responded to the second. When Jesus asked them, “Who do you say I am”, Peter responds by declaring that Jesus is the “Christ, the son of the living God.” Jesus tells him that he did not come to this conclusion by flesh and blood. He says “my Father in heaven revealed this to you.”
Jesus then tells him that the process of God revealing himself to people is the rock upon which he will build his church. Jesus changes his name from Simon, which means a reed blowing in the wind, to peter, a stone. He has been made more solid and stable by receiving this revealed knowledge. With it Jesus says you have received the Keys of the Kingdom of heaven. Yet in a short period of time, he goes from the most important disciple to the devil. Why?
After this experience Peter had all he needed to succeed in what God called him to do and whatever he would face in the future. Yet he just could not look past his understanding and his emotions. He had declared that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God. That came to him by revelation from God himself. The problem was that he interpreted that revelation according to his human understanding. Since it was confirmed that Jesus was the Messiah; Peter had to protect him. He could not let him die. There were two factors that caused Peter to so badly misinterpret what he heard from God.
First, we must remember that Peter was a Jew. He had been taught that the Messiah of Isreal was going to be a human leader who would restore self-rule to Isreal under a new and powerful king. Although the idea that Jesus was the Son of God was not part of that scenario, he did not understand that Israels interpretation of who and what the Messiah was could be wrong. He assumed this revelation was given to him so he could protect the Messiah until he came into his kingdom.
Second, he loved Jesus. The thought that he would die was unthinkable. Peter could not bear the thought of losing him. Because of his human understanding and because of his human emotions, he totally misinterpreted the revelation that had come to him just a short time before. After Peter received the revelation of Jesus’ true identity, Jesus told his disciples what the Messiah was born to do. Peter’s inspired insight had assured them of who Jesus was, allowing him to begin revealing God’s plan.
Matthew tells us that from that time he began to tell them that he must go to Jerusalem. I imagine they thought he was going there to put in motion the re-establishment of the Israelite kingdom. However, as Jesus keeps telling them what will happen, they must have been confused. Peter certainly was. I doubt he even heard anything after Jesus said, “I must suffer and die.” He could not allow that. Yet what Jesus said after he would die should have been the most powerful thing Peter heard. Jesus would not stay dead. He would be raised from the dead on the third day. Even if he heard the words, his mind could not accept the concept.
In this scripture, Peter actually began to rebuke Jesus! The English word means to express sharp disapproval or criticism, often because someone has done something wrong. The Greek word means to censure or admonish; by implication forbid. Here is a man who has just received revelation knowledge of God concerning who Jesus was, but when the “Word made flesh” tried to give him more revelation, he rebuked him.
There are many people who receive revelation from God. Some of them were great and powerful ministers of the gospel. Some were wonderful teachers of the word of God. Others were believers who were given insight into the Bible to help them deal with the challenges before them. However, instead of building the Kingdom of God, they allowed the revelation to lead them into false teachings and often heresy. Some started movements that were good to begin with, but as time passed became something that caused great damage to people and the Kingdom of God as well. How can this be possible. Jesus tells us in the next few verses.
Jesus’ immediate response was to call Peter Satan and tell him that he was an offence to him. That is quite a fall from “you have been given the Keys to the kingdom of heaven!” I do not think Jesus was actually calling Peter Satan. He was rebuking the Satanic influence that Peter had allowed to distort the revelation God had given him. In the next verses he tells us what happened to Peter and how to make sure it does not happen to us.
Matthew 16:24-27 (NKJV) 24Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27“For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
Jesus speaks to all the disciples here, not just Peter. These words are very important to someone who receives revelation from God. They are just as important for any Christian who wants to walk pleasing to God and fulfil God’s call on his or her life. These verses are just as powerful as the ones that were given to Peter. If we walk according to this scripture, we will be in a position to walk in victory in all areas. More important we will not be so subject to the influence that can corrupt what God reveals to us and send us in wrong directions just as happened to Peter.
Jesus tells his disciples that anyone who wants to come after him must do three things. They must deny themselves, pick up their cross and follow him. We will look at these three things in detail, but today I want to focus on the promise that comes to those who do this. He says those who desire to save their life will lose it, but those who choose to lose his life for Jesus’ sake with find it. Let me say that he is not speaking about physical death. If we lose our physical life in service to Jesus, we will receive eternal life in the presence of God. However, that is true of anyone who dies believing in the redemption found in Christ. What he is talking about here is something different.
Rather than starting with what we must give up, let me tell you what you get. In John 10:10 Jesus says to his disciples that he came to give us abundant life. That Greek word means superabundant in quantity. It can also mean superior in quality. The implication is excessive. Jesus came that we might have excessive life. Not in the way we might define excess. He is using this term in the best possible way. In Matthew 16, he says if we try to save our life we will ultimately lose it. However, if we freely lose our life, meaning the one we have without him, we will gain the life Jesus called abundant.
As we dig into what Jesus told his disciples, I believe we will see that what we believe in the natural and what we have been taught about preserving what we see as our current life cannot be compared to what will be found if we are willing to let go of what we have and pursue what Jesus is offering us. Peter eventually understood. In his case, he became the chief apostle and true leader of the group Jesus tasked with transitioning his ministry into what we know as the church. To me, that is greater than anything he could have had if he “saved his life.”
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