That the above verse actually spells out the target of Jesus’ vitriol is a real relief. Because, if it had said just “you are an offense to me,” you might have concluded that I had something against you. And nothing could be farther from the truth. We love you and hope we shall be neighbors in Heaven. All the same, we should note that the words: Satan you are an offense to me proceeded out of Jesus’ mouth. And to one of his own followers. Ouch!
Poor Peter, Hearing Jesus Say Satan, You Are An Offense To Me
Poor Peter, he had just done his best to protect his Master and Savior. You may recall that Jesus was describing His imminent assassination.
Naturally, Peter, who truly loved Jesus, was aghast at the thought that some people would successfully murder Jesus. And Peter was too virtuous to stand by and let such a terrible thing take place. He needed to try and defend his Master from such ignominy.
With a hefty dose of righteous indignation, Peter strictly forbade Jesus from speaking that way. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. His actual words were “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
Nevertheless, Peter received a condemnation instead of a commendation, much to his surprise and consternation. Picture being referred to as Satan, simply for wanting to take care of your master. As you can imagine, it would be impossible to fully capture what was going through Peter’s mind in those split seconds.
The Words, Satan You Are Offense To Me Came As A Shock
Besides that proximal conversation, Peter had proved himself worthy of praise. Of all the disciples, it was Peter who readily recognized the deity of Jesus.
You may recall that Jesus was implementing a rough and ready evaluation of His earthly ministry. He wondered what men thought of Him and His service. The answer to that one was easy and it came as a chorus from several disciples.
They had their ears close to the ground and reported that some people claim that Jesus was John the Baptist. Others said that Jesus was Prophet Elijah come back to life. And others thought Jesus was Jeremiah or one of the prophets of old.
That gaggle of answers about the populace satisfied Jesus. Next, He wanted to know His disciples’ thoughts on the issue. They had interacted quite closely with him. This proved to be a bit more difficult, personal. He would get to see into their very souls. They fell silent.
All except Peter. He knew the answer to that one! “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Wow! Who told Peter such a secret about Jesus? We soon learn that the source of His deep knowledge is the Holy Spirit, no less a personage. And yet Jesus referred to this same disciple as Satan.
Why Did Jesus Say Satan, You Are An Offense To Me To Peter?
This is a great question since He was actually addressing His remarks to Peter, a human being. This is the same one who a few minutes prior, has demonstrated that he had the Holy Spirit baptism. Could Jesus have occasion to say to you or I, Satan, you are an offense to me?
I should think that the answer is yes since He said it to Peter, one of His inner caucus members. It would seem that nobody is exempt from hearing those terrible words: Satan, you are an offense to me.
The reason Jesus said to Peter, Satan you are an offense to me is that Peter made a mistake. And yet, in spite of the error, Jesus very kindly did not leave Peter in the dark. He quickly gave him the reason for such spiritual slur. He told him, “You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Unfortunately, Peter received this reprimand in spite of being a Jesus follower. And in spite of hearing directly from God, Jesus scolded Peter that he was extremely concerned with the things of man. Besides, He informed him that the things of this world mattered more to Peter than the things of God.
If this sounds as if I am talking about you, we are sort of in the same boat. Are we not all guilty at some point or another? We mind the things of this world more than those that belong to God. We walk by sight mostly.
Anyone Could Hear Jesus Say That He Is An Offense To Him
One could not possibly be closer to Jesus than Peter was. First, it was to Peter that Jesus was getting ready to hand His nascent church. Secondly, Peter was getting the keys to the Kingdom. In other words, whatever Peter said was bound to become law. Consequently, Peter had much greater power than any executive powers you can think of.
Thirdly, Peter had the Holy Spirit teaching and guiding him into all truths. Unfortunately for each of us, one could meet all those requirements and still be regarded as Satan. Therefore, unless care is taken, any believer could hear Jesus say those words.
In the same way, you and I could be told: Satan you are an offense to me. And where does Satan dwell? Hell is the correct answer. And since we do not wish to end up in hell, we need to avoid Peter’s mistake. You obviously know that on this blog, we prefer rather to always be Heaven-Ready,
To Avoid Hearing Those Damming Words
Which is precisely what makes it important that we learn from Peter’s mistake. It is not enough to be a Jesus-follower. It is not enough that the Holy Spirit constantly reveals the mind of God to us.
Similarly, God may honor us by binding in Heaven whatever we bind on earth. And yet we may miss Heaven. Jesus may still banish us and say to us, get thee behind me, Satan.
As we highlighted in another post, we need to learn to walk by faith and not by sight. We should intentionally let the things of God be our delight. And we should continually deemphasize our love of the world and the things in it.
Concerning letting go of the world and the things of the world, Paul had an extremely innovative strategy. He says of himself, I die daily. Then Jesus will have no cause to say that we are an offense to Him. He will not banish us behind Him. We shall find a place in Heaven.
Maranatha!
