“But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.”
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. Get behind me, Satan! he said. You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns — Jesus turns and addresses Peter but does so facing the disciples — the rebuke is semi-public, delivered to Peter in the presence of the twelve. Get behind me, Satan — the same name used in the wilderness testing (Matthew 4:10) is applied to Peter: he is functioning as the tempter, offering the Messiah the alternative path (glory without suffering) that the wilderness tested. The concerns of God (the cross) versus the concerns of humans (avoidance of suffering) is the chapter's central theological tension.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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