Get Behind Me, Satan!

Take up your cross and follow Jesus.

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
                                                                                                              (Matt 16:23-24 NIV)

I've only not been able to restrain my tongue, a couple of times, from telling someone "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block that cares more about the world than the Kingdom of God." I have to confess there have been numerous occasions when the words were at the tip of my tongue and I thought better of it. So, very often I witness personal desires and will being pursued way before any concern of what God would want is even considered. God's will usually takes a back seat to ours.

Peter was more concerned about having his friend around. He and the other disciples were looking for a different kind of savior. They wanted a savior and a king that would rule the Roman empire. They wanted, with him, to rule the world. They wanted Jesus to hang around and be their friend.

Jesus had other plans. He was going to save the world by dying. He was going to save the world by being the scapegoat for us. If he were not to be the sacrificial lamb; as was his Father's will, the world, in no way, could be saved. His concerns were the concerns of God. Peter's was more concerned with losing a friend.

When we compromise God's will in order for us to be able to live comfortably or even luxuriously in this world; we become stumbling blocks. Our focus is not on doing God's will; but, on doing our own or the will of others when our aim is merely to please others or ourselves. 

Jesus called Peter a stumbling block because his own desires were keeping him from seeing and acknowledging God's good will for humankind. In the church on earth, we see this often. Personal agendas become stumbling blocks to evangelism and church growth. They would distract us from the real mission of proclaiming the Kingdom of God through the sacrifice on the cross by Jesus for all who would believe.

May God help us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus no matter what cross we might have to bear.

God's Peace - Pr. J