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Mark 8:27-35 – And Jesus went on with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told Him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered Him, “You are the Christ.” And He strictly charged them to tell no one about Him. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He said this plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” And calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, He said to them, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.”
Poor Peter! In the space of maybe 15 minutes, he goes from the star student, who sees Jesus for who He really is—to being called “Satan” for trying to turn Jesus away from the road to the cross.
I wonder if he passed the first test because it involved glory—I mean, realizing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God—well, how wonderful is that? There’s nothing in that to make a good friend, a loving student, even an ambitious disciple upset. Peter recognizes Jesus’ identity, and it’s a happy thing.
But the cross is completely different. Nobody wants to hear that the person they love is heading for a nasty death. No student wants to lose his teacher in such a way. And all the political hopes that the disciples were still cherishing—well, if Jesus is really going to end up on a cross, they can just forget about an earthly kingdom!
So Peter protests—and gets a ferocious response from Jesus. And rightly so, because though Peter doesn’t realize it, what he’s asking Jesus to do is to avoid saving us. He’s asking Him to go against the Father’s will, to put Himself first instead of us and our desperate need. He’s asking Jesus to stop loving us. And Jesus will never do that.
Peter will understand later, when Jesus suffers and dies and rises again—and brings the whole human race into a new, open space full of possibilities for new life. Because now, the way to the Father is open again. Jesus has made Himself the way to the Father, and in His hands we are safe. And so we celebrate the One who loved us into death and beyond—and who lives and rules the universe today, until the day He returns to bring us to Himself forever.
WE PRAY: Dear Jesus, thank You for loving us above Your own needs. I love You. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
- Have you ever tried to talk someone out of their plans? How did it go?
- Do you think Peter was hurt? What about years later, when he finally understood?
- Why does Jesus react so ferociously to any possible danger to us?
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