But there is no question that my envy is quite fleeting when balanced with the tremendous trial they faced as witnesses of our Lord's baptism of suffering. I can imagine the denial I would have at the notion He would have to die. I'd draw my sword alright, and I would not be merely cut off an ear either! I picture myself screaming "No!" and latching onto my God's leg as they tried to arrest and take Him away. I get ill even contemplating it.
I am a sore loser. Particularly when it come to Satan. I am constantly looking for his next move against me and others; ready to resist and stand firm for the Lord. I see this quality in the apostle Peter. I see him always ready to answer and act. He confessed Jesus as the Son of the Living God; he stepped out in faith (some anyway) upon the water toward Jesus; he was the one that drew his sword in an attempt to keep Jesus from being arrested. But there is one great part of Peter's vigilance that let him down. This might have been his lowest point.
"From that time Jesus began to show 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 again the third day. Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, God be gracious to You, Lord! This shall never be to You. But He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan!' You are an offense to Me, for you do not savor the things that are of God, but those that are of men." Matthew 16:21-23What is so striking to me is that a short time and five verses ago, Peter is blessed by Jesus because he professed Him to be the Christ and the Son of God. This rebuke of "Get behind Me, Satan," is of the same construct as the rebuke Jesus gave to Satan after be tormented by him during His time of fasting following His baptism.
Stand, if you dare, in the sandals of Peter at that moment. You have come off a spiritual high because you were wise, bold, and faithful enough to proclaim the true identify of your Lord and Saviour in front of all. Now He tells you that He must be killed and raised on the third day. You think, "Oh no you won't! I won't allow it. I will stop it. No one is killing my Lord!" You take Jesus aside and tell Him that He shouldn't talk like that. He should know that you will not let such a terrible thing occur. Instead of Jesus telling you, "Thanks Peter, I knew you'd come through," He says, "Peter, get out of My way you messenger of Satan. You are being used by Satan to ensnare Me!"
Oh how the mighty have fallen! Jesus' star student just got an F-minus-minus. What are we to make of all this? It means that God's ways are not our ways. Just when we think we know what is best, God tells us that we were running the wrong way and scored a touchdown for the opposing team. It also tells that when God is revealing His plan to us, don't try and overrule Him. Just because we get a few things right, let's not puff ourselves up to where we try and start calling the shots. We look at it and think that Jesus was being harsh because Peter certainly meant well. But God looks at it saying, "Peter, who did you think you were working for when you started rebuking me?"
We must always be on our guard. The distance between being God's biggest champion and God's newest obstacle can be as short as five verses. Sorry to say, I have seen many "mighties" fall over the years. One day they have a great and successful ministry, the next they are trying to pick up the pieces or fading into the annuls of history. Like Peter, they have begun to believe their own press. "We are great!" "Look at everything we are doing for God!" "How did God ever survive without us?" Next thing you know you have a bunch of preachers selling insurance and used cars. Not that such a turn is limited preachers; I have seen it happen to new Christians as well as elders.
There is one more part for us to wisely consider in all of this. When God rebukes us like Jesus to Peter, we must not explain it away. For instance, when Judah ended up off track, God used Babylon to rebuke them. The problem is that when God sent Ezekiel about as His prophet to tell them what He had done to discipline them in an effort to get them to repent, they had no interest in listening to Him. Instead, they choose to listen to false prophets who assured them that they were God's chosen people and that God would never turn His back to them.
As a result, the people did not repent, Jerusalem was destroyed and all but a handful of faithful remnant Jews were condemned. The majority of Jews chose to think that everyone else was just jealous of them. Because of their closeness to God, Satan was persecuting them. But in truth, they were working for Satan and God was attempting to rebuke them into repentance.
As we begin to stray, God will always try to reel us back in. He loves us that much. We must not assume trials are simply the high price we pay for serving God. Oh Satan does and will continue to oppose righteousness, but God also chastens whom He loves. Perhaps we can learn from the words of Joseph to his brothers:
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive" Genesis 50:20What you perceive as evil, God may be working righteousness in your trials. The only question is will you listen and learn? Will you repent? If not, don't expect God to stop His chastening until you do, or you are removed as an obstacle. Apparently Peter did learn right away, because he later was warned how he would fall into Satan's trap again by denying Jesus. He was even told when and how many times, but he still walked right into it. This is the trouble we face in this spiritual warfare.
So how do we know the difference? We are always to be seeking God's wisdom, plan, and guidance. Don't always presume that you must be right in your thinking and plans merely because you were successful before. Listen even to your perceived enemies, for God may be speaking to you through them. God's floodgates are only open when we are within His will.
"For to this end I also wrote, that I might know the proof of you, whether you are obedient in all things... so that we should not be overreached by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his devices. " 2 Corinthians 2:9&11
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