Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. (Mark 8:32-33)
Jesus spoke about His death to His disciples. Peter, wanted to save the situation; he did not want Jesus to die. Therefore taking Jesus aside he rebuked Him. Jesus however, knew His Father’s will and that what Peter suggested was the very opposite. One can easily fall into the trap of seeking the things of friends, or taking a decision based on human insight and thereby obstructing God’s intention or purposes. Jesus did not hesitate to expose Peter’s doing (one of His closest disciples) as wrong before the others and to declare it as an act of Satan.
We too should be careful not to obstruct God’s purposes, which might be very opposite to what we think. It all depends where our focus is. Is it in the pocket, on a person or is it on Him, our exceedingly great award?
