Say Yes To The Mess.

From that time Jesus began to show to 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 the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You! But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:21-23)

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Sam spoke of Simon Peter as a naive apostle. And between Sunday and today, I have noticed that I still cringe when I think of this part of the sermon. Perhaps it's the reality check of seeing that, in our efforts to "protect" the ones we love, we might actually stray outside of the will of God and be co-opted into the service of the devil.

Peter's challenge, when we look at it, does sound like the devil's strategy we saw outlined in Genesis 3. As we shared in yesterday's blog, Satan used language to imply that God's words to Adam and Eve were incorrect. In the Matthew 16 passage above, we see that Peter uses language to imply that Jesus's words to His disciples was incorrect.

What did Jesus say? He said He would go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed, and be raised. That was the plan of God.

What did Peter say? Peter rebuked Jesus with two points:

Far be it from You, Lord- in other words, “Jesus, may You be removed from experiencing Your calling.”

This shall not happen to You!- in other words, “Jesus, may You not complete the purpose for which You were sent.”

I am glad that Jesus didn't let Peter's comments slide. We must learn this lesson. Our love, respect, and concern for our friends and leaders does not give us an excuse to reject the Lord's commands concerning the sufferings they may experience as a part of their calling.

O Lord, forgive us for the times we have sought to shield the ones we love from the cost of following You. Help us to always do Your will, chasing obedience, whatever it may cost.

As Pastor Sam said some years ago, and it is still true now, “Embrace the pain in light of the purpose.”