Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33
But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
— Matthew 16:23
Before this moment, two major things had happened:
- Peter had just confessed that JESUS is the Christ, the Son of the living God (v.16).
- Jesus then explained His death and resurrection to the disciples (v.21)
It is noteworthy that (2) follows because of (1). He was to die precisely because He is the Son of God, after all, who else could die for the sins of the whole world?
Now to verse 22: “Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.”
As my Apostle would say, it is very interesting that Peter is rebuking his Lord. But as a side note, we can clearly see that Peter was a very passionate person. When they came to arrest JESUS, he cut off someone’s ear in defence. That same passion is visible here.
It is safe to say he spoke from emotion, something like: “Ah, my Lord, you cannot die, God forbid! I reject it for you!”
Now to verse 23, our focus:
But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Jesus immediately rebuked him. But notice: He did not say, “Get thee behind me, Peter,” but “Get thee behind me, Satan.” That part is especially interesting.
I remember once asking my Apostle, why was JESUS rebuking Satan when it seems Satan had nothing directly to do with this?
We know from 1 Corinthians 2:8: “…which none of the rulers of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
The devil was completely unaware of God’s redemptive plan in JESUS’ death. If anything, the devil likely wanted JESUS to die, thinking it would be his victory. But thanks be to God, through that very death, Christ destroyed the one who had the power of death, that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14).
So come back with me: If Satan was not the one directly motivating Peter, why did Jesus rebuke Satan?
As my Apostle often teaches in Bible hermeneutics, the colon (:) signals that an explanation follows. Returning to our main verse:
Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
We see the explanation clearly.
It appears that Jesus is exposing a principle: anything that pulls away from the will of God, even when it comes through sincere human emotion, stands in opposition to God’s will.
In this moment, Peter was speaking from genuine love and concern, but not from what God wants.
Ultimately, we are not to follow anything outside the will of God, not man (yourself included), not Satan, except where the will of man is in line with the will of God.
From an outward perspective, what Peter said sounded loving. Any good person would not want his Lord to die. We can even say he spoke out of ignorance.
But the truth still stands: If it is not God’s will, even if it looks good or feels right, it must be rejected.
So, beloved, take a moment to reflect on these things. Look into your life and the matters before you, and boldly declare: “Get thee behind me, Satan, for you do not serve the will of God!”