hazards on the journey

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly.

Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”


I find this exchange between Jesus and Peter rather fascinating. Jesus clearly outlined to those close to Him the road on which He was travelling. From the perspective of looking back through history, it seems odd that Peter would rebuke Jesus for embracing the Father's plan. While Jesus spoke of sacrifice, of dying, He also spoke of a miraculous life-giving resurrection.

For some reason Peter apparently never heard the words about resurrection. Why? I think it is because Peter's personal agenda for Jesus did not mesh with Jesus' words. Instead of hearing the voice of the Father in Jesus' words, Peter rejected the plan of God due to his lack of understanding the ways of God. Not only did he reject the plan of God, in his choice to disregard the hand of God, he became a voice for the counsel of Satan.

Unfortunately, the "Peter syndrome" still occurs today. Bev and I have noticed that every time that we have made a dramatic change in our lives in order to follow Jesus, good people have come out of the woodwork to oppose the change. They are not bad people, they simply have no understanding of the work of God. Due to the fact that they interpret life through their own humanistic lens, they can quickly become the accusatory voice of the enemy.

If you are going to follow Jesus, not only in word, but in action, expect this to happen. Look at the words of Jesus - Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 

From the perspective of looking back through time, we know that Peter eventually "got it". His mistake was not an eternal mistake. And so it is today. Set your face to follow Jesus. You will be opposed (and sometimes by those close to you) but be of good cheer - resurrection is coming! The opposition by good people does not last forever.