25/2/18 – Exodus 37, Exodus 38 Mark 8:14-38, Mark 9:1 Proverbs 6:1-11

Mark 8:31-33

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

I’m sure Peter was just trying to be encouraging. And initially it seems like a harsh reaction from Jesus. Is He calling Peter Satan?

What Peter was trying to do, in the natural made sense. But he was not speaking with God’s wisdom, but with mans. We’d do the same if a friend stated talking about their death in such a way.

But Peter did not understand the plan of God. We know from the struggle in Gethsemene that Jesus did not get on the cross lightly. Satan wasn’t speaking directly to Jesus here, but using someone well intentioned to try and get Jesus off track.

Peter is rebuked, but it’s not held against him.

The enemy will use the well intentioned to get you off track. The advice may even be good in the natural. But don’t be diverted from God’s plan. Don’t let someone get you off track. But don’t hold it against the person who said it – they are just trying to help.

Mark 8:38

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

These are hard words to read. But we need to take them seriously. We live in an adulterous and sinful generation today – to be marked as  Christian is to be marked as an enemy of people’s liberty to do whatever they want. But we must be steadfast. I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want Jesus to ever be ashamed of me.