A Dangerous Trap

Only moments before, Jesus' disciple Peter had declared, "You are the Christ, Son of the Living God." For this understanding, Jesus commended him, "You are blessed because this was not revealed to you by any human being, but by my Heavenly Father." Then the Lord began to tell His followers that He must go to Jerusalem where He would suffer and die.

Now Peter took Jesus aside and remonstrated Him. I can just see him swelling up and saying something like, "This won't happen to You! Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” (Matthew 6:23 NLT) Commentators agree that Jesus did not call his friend "Satan." Instead, He recognized in Peter's brash words the devil's attempt to lure Him away from His purpose. This was nothing new: the same Tempter had used the same tactic in the wilderness, "If You are the Son of God, prove Yourself!" And Jesus' answer was the same, "Get out of here, Satan!"

The problem which led to the stern rebuke Peter received was that he was operating out of his natural inclinations. His forgetfulness or his carelessness or his excess of kindness was causing him to see things merely from a human point of view. Of course because we are human, we are going to see things from a human standpoint. But that should not be the only way to look at them. We do have to face the realities of life; we cannot escape difficulties by denying their existence. But to see them only as human problems which must be solved by human efforts is a dangerous trap. It makes us feel like our problem may be the end of the world as we know it! It makes us wonder if our struggle is worth it, or should we just admit defeat? It makes us forget to look for the purpose God may be working through what we are experiencing.

"So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever." (II Corinthians 4:16-18 MSG)

MaryMartha

Scripture quotation marked NLT is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved. Scripture marked MSG is taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/