16:22
Peter was shocked by this and made his feelings known. The other disciples probably had similar feelings, but Peter was more likely to bring them out into the open. Peter tells Jesus openly that these things must never happen to Jesus. We know, of course, these are precisely the things that must happen, they were the very purpose for which Jesus came, and were the only way of mankind being saved. God’s plans will often not make sense to us, but we must always remember that God is infinitely wise and we are not.
16:23
“Get behind me Satan!” One minute Peter is speaking the truth revealed to him by the Father, the next he is speaking with words of the devil. We must never take pride in ourselves for we can so easily move from walking in the Spirit to walking in the flesh. “Satan” means adversary or accuser. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns”. This is a strange but revealing condemnation. Satan is condemned for having “merely human concerns”, one might have expected a more telling condemnation, something referring directly to the demonic. But no, Satan is condemned for having in mind the things of man. This tells us something very important about demonic activity. It is usually not dramatic, not supernatural in a horror film type sense, but usually it is very mundane, but it is no less dangerous, in fact it is more dangerous. Peter’s reaction was entirely understandable, but what if Jesus had gone along with it? Mankind would not have been saved, God’s plan would not have been fulfilled! The consequences would have been utterly catastrophic. We should also beware our “human reactions” to situations. The word of God should always be our guide.
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