Matthew 16:21-23 says: "From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.' But He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.'"
The phrase "You are a stumbling block to Me" caught my attention. I might have expected Jesus to tell Peter he was wrong. He might have said, "Peter, you will make your fellow disciples stumble with that kind of talk." But to say Peter was a stumbling block to Him?!
How could Peter be a stumbling block to Jesus? Obviously, Jesus never stumbled over the stumbling block, but the fact was, Peter presented a temptation to Christ. Peter wanted to see Jesus LIVE. He wanted to see Jesus become an earthly king over the Jewish nation and obliterate their enemies. He did not want Jesus to die. And this must have been the temptation - a picture of Kingship without the heartache, pain, and death. Isn't this what Satan had offered Jesus back in Matt. 4 when he told Jesus to bow down to him and he'd give Him all the nations of the earth? Jesus responds much in the same way here - "Get behind Me, Satan!" This is how Jesus dealt with temptation. He commanded Satan to back down immediately!
Jesus used this event to launch into a discussion of true discipleship. He reminded His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matt. 16:24-25). Satan had presented a tempting scenario of a painless shortcut to greatness. But Jesus returns quickly to the TRUTH: there is no such thing as greatness without sacrifice. He would have to suffer and die so He could be raised to overcome death once and for all. His disciples (you and I) must suffer with Him - lose our lives for His sake - so we can truly live!
God bless,
Nathan