Get behind me Satan!
In Matthew 16:21-23, the Bible reports a very interesting incident between Jesus and Peter that goes as follow:
‘From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
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.”
Interestingly Jesus said to him:’ 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.”
• Jesus labelled Peter as a stumbling block because he had human concerns and no thoughts for the things of God. When we have greater concerns for human things, we are bound to be a stumbling block to ourselves and to others .
• We cannot achieve God’s will if we are constantly driven by human thoughts or thoughts of the flesh.
• The will of God directs us forward. Human concerns keep us stuck on one point.
You see my friend, you cannot expect to do the will of God while having a mind dominated by concerns of this world. Most of the social ills are caused by people whose minds are dominated by human concerns.
Human concerns are the fruits of a human reasoning that exalts itself above the commandments of God. In Matthew 16:21-23, Jesus clearly wanted to do the will of God but the human reasoning of Peter tried to forbid Him from doing it.
While God commands to love other humans (ref. Matthew 22:39), the human concerns will tell us to love people based on their race. While God might tell you to quit your job in order to follow His call, the human reasoning will provide all the objections against quitting your job.
While the word of God highlights the importance of giving and generosity (ref. Malachi 3:10, Proverbs 3:9,Luke 6:38), the human concerns will produce countless excuses to promote stinginess. If you don’t believe me, just google the internet and you will find countless articles discouraging people from practicing Biblical generosity.
For every instruction that God gives, the human concerns will always attempt to rise above in order to create an objection. It is interesting that Jesus calls Peter ‘Satan’. In Jesus words, Satan and human reasoning are at the same level. When the serpent met Eve in the Garden of Eden, it worked at stirring the human reasoning of Eve against the will of God (ref. Genesis 3 ). Notice that as they converse, the serpent manages to convince Eve into nurturing concerns for more power and knowledge (ref. Genesis 3:4-5).
Satan is good at stirring human reasoning through his arguments. Satan can stir a person to become disobedient, racist, hateful, fearful, doubtful, etc…through arguments and conversations just like he did with Eve. And this is why Jesus does not give Satan an opportunity to talk further by saying: ‘Get behind me Satan!’
If you want to do the will of God, sooner or later, Satan will try to stir in you a human reasonning that will exalt itself above the Word of God.
This is how it works:
1. Step 1: The Word and the Will of God are clearly expressed upon your life
2. Step 2: Satan comes to ‘discuss’ what you heard from God with conning arguments. At that stage, you must tell him to get behind. But if you decide to listen, then you will downgrade to step three.
3. Step 3: The human reasoning is stirred like a raging ocean that creates all the concerns forming an objection against the will of God.
4. Step: You never do the will of God. You are blocked, stuck in one place because Satan is still in front of you, right in your face.
So if you want to move forward, tell him to get behind you.
Get behind me Satan!
‘From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
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.”
Interestingly Jesus said to him:’ 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.”
• Jesus labelled Peter as a stumbling block because he had human concerns and no thoughts for the things of God. When we have greater concerns for human things, we are bound to be a stumbling block to ourselves and to others .
• We cannot achieve God’s will if we are constantly driven by human thoughts or thoughts of the flesh.
• The will of God directs us forward. Human concerns keep us stuck on one point.
You see my friend, you cannot expect to do the will of God while having a mind dominated by concerns of this world. Most of the social ills are caused by people whose minds are dominated by human concerns.
Human concerns are the fruits of a human reasoning that exalts itself above the commandments of God. In Matthew 16:21-23, Jesus clearly wanted to do the will of God but the human reasoning of Peter tried to forbid Him from doing it.
While God commands to love other humans (ref. Matthew 22:39), the human concerns will tell us to love people based on their race. While God might tell you to quit your job in order to follow His call, the human reasoning will provide all the objections against quitting your job.
While the word of God highlights the importance of giving and generosity (ref. Malachi 3:10, Proverbs 3:9,Luke 6:38), the human concerns will produce countless excuses to promote stinginess. If you don’t believe me, just google the internet and you will find countless articles discouraging people from practicing Biblical generosity.
For every instruction that God gives, the human concerns will always attempt to rise above in order to create an objection. It is interesting that Jesus calls Peter ‘Satan’. In Jesus words, Satan and human reasoning are at the same level. When the serpent met Eve in the Garden of Eden, it worked at stirring the human reasoning of Eve against the will of God (ref. Genesis 3 ). Notice that as they converse, the serpent manages to convince Eve into nurturing concerns for more power and knowledge (ref. Genesis 3:4-5).
Satan is good at stirring human reasoning through his arguments. Satan can stir a person to become disobedient, racist, hateful, fearful, doubtful, etc…through arguments and conversations just like he did with Eve. And this is why Jesus does not give Satan an opportunity to talk further by saying: ‘Get behind me Satan!’
If you want to do the will of God, sooner or later, Satan will try to stir in you a human reasonning that will exalt itself above the Word of God.
This is how it works:
1. Step 1: The Word and the Will of God are clearly expressed upon your life
2. Step 2: Satan comes to ‘discuss’ what you heard from God with conning arguments. At that stage, you must tell him to get behind. But if you decide to listen, then you will downgrade to step three.
3. Step 3: The human reasoning is stirred like a raging ocean that creates all the concerns forming an objection against the will of God.
4. Step: You never do the will of God. You are blocked, stuck in one place because Satan is still in front of you, right in your face.
So if you want to move forward, tell him to get behind you.
Get behind me Satan!