S
saretse
Guest
He began to teach them that the Son of Man had to suffer much, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, be put to death, and rise three days later. He said these things quite openly. Peter then took Him aside and began to remonstrate with Him. At this He turned around and, eyeing the disciples reprimanded Peter, “Get out of my sight, you Satan! You are not judging by God’s standards but by man’s!” (Mark 8: 31 – 33)
Following the aforementioned Biblical narrative, it is readily understood that the subject matter of the Rabbi’s teaching to His disciples is the prophecy of His Passion, Crucifixion up to His Resurrection. Peter, the leader of the Chosen twelve, openly expressed his stern opposition to the prophecy that the Son of Man revealed. However, the evangelist of the preceding gospel text did not provide the reason for Peter’s strong opposition. In Matthew’s writings Peter was quoted as saying, “May you be spared, Master! God forbid that any such thing happen to you!” If we put ourselves in Peter’s situation and consider the noblest intentions for his protest against the prophecy, he might have thought it unfair and unjustifiable that his Master who has done great and extraordinary things should suffer terribly like a criminal. In his mind, he will not allow the prophecy to happen if he had his way and maybe that was why he begged God to spare his Master of such cruel and horrible fate. The Son of Man reacted angrily to Peter’s remonstrance. On his face, Peter heard and swallowed the severest admonition the Rabbi ever issued to one of his Chosen ones, “Get out of my sight, you Satan!” Such angry utterance from Our Lord Jesus Christ, if we apply what we learn from elementary English grammar, is both an imperative sentence and an exclamatory sentence. It was an emphatic command and a stunning rebuke. It was a knockout punch. If we apply the norms of human conduct, such angry remark of the Messiah is slanderous. A human being calling his fellow human being “Satan” reflects, to say the least, bad upbringing in the eyes of civil society. If it were some other male human being who addressed Peter face-to-face with such call a fistfight, more often than not, could have ensued. But as it is, it was God in the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ who verbalized such call. God, the Omnipotent One, who is not bound by natural, human or civil laws. This, He pointed out in one of His teachings, “You belong to what is below; I belong to what is above. You belong to this world – a world which cannot hold me.” (John 8:23) The world cannot hold God bound to its natural, human or civil laws unless He allows it because the world was just part of His Creation. Everything in the universe is subject to Him. Remember that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are one. What, then, provoked the ‘seemingly uncharacteristic’ display of anger by the Son of Man towards Peter? It is this, direct from the mouth of God, “You are not judging by God’s standards but by man’s.” Applying human logic, if it is at all applicable, to the Rabbi’s emphatic declaration, judging by man’s standards is satanic. A cursory review of the Book of Genesis disclosed that, at the outset, man and woman acted independently of God; they defied the simple word or order or commandment of the Lord. At the outset, man and woman acted dependently on Satan, the ancient serpent; they followed or listened to the Devil’s standards. That is the Scriptural basis that judgment by man’s standards is satanic that, understandably, elicited God’s ire. Peter, with his strong opposition to the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Passion and Resurrection, was consciously or not treading Adam’s wayward path. He was forwarding Satan’s perpetual advocacy of opposing God and all His works. Satan the Impostor, as every Christian knows, always thinks and acts in opposition to God and will exhaust all its might to thwart the fulfillment of the Scriptures. The lesson that is being conveyed here is that no human judgment, thinking or perception is ever good if it is not in keeping or is not in line with God’s word and all His works. Any human endeavor that falls short or goes beyond what God prescribed is always satanic. God does not compromise His word and He never did because there is nobody like Him and there is nobody above him. Noncompliance with His word always carries with it a penalty or a curse but a covenant with Him carries a precious reward and a promise fulfilled.Unfortunately, man has always been consistent with himself. He continues to defy GOD. He addressed the virgin from Nazareth ‘Woman’. We insist she is her ‘Mother’. Other sects says she is just an ordinary woman or even less. It is the word of GOD against our word. We are better than GOD. Isn’t that strange?
Following the aforementioned Biblical narrative, it is readily understood that the subject matter of the Rabbi’s teaching to His disciples is the prophecy of His Passion, Crucifixion up to His Resurrection. Peter, the leader of the Chosen twelve, openly expressed his stern opposition to the prophecy that the Son of Man revealed. However, the evangelist of the preceding gospel text did not provide the reason for Peter’s strong opposition. In Matthew’s writings Peter was quoted as saying, “May you be spared, Master! God forbid that any such thing happen to you!” If we put ourselves in Peter’s situation and consider the noblest intentions for his protest against the prophecy, he might have thought it unfair and unjustifiable that his Master who has done great and extraordinary things should suffer terribly like a criminal. In his mind, he will not allow the prophecy to happen if he had his way and maybe that was why he begged God to spare his Master of such cruel and horrible fate. The Son of Man reacted angrily to Peter’s remonstrance. On his face, Peter heard and swallowed the severest admonition the Rabbi ever issued to one of his Chosen ones, “Get out of my sight, you Satan!” Such angry utterance from Our Lord Jesus Christ, if we apply what we learn from elementary English grammar, is both an imperative sentence and an exclamatory sentence. It was an emphatic command and a stunning rebuke. It was a knockout punch. If we apply the norms of human conduct, such angry remark of the Messiah is slanderous. A human being calling his fellow human being “Satan” reflects, to say the least, bad upbringing in the eyes of civil society. If it were some other male human being who addressed Peter face-to-face with such call a fistfight, more often than not, could have ensued. But as it is, it was God in the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ who verbalized such call. God, the Omnipotent One, who is not bound by natural, human or civil laws. This, He pointed out in one of His teachings, “You belong to what is below; I belong to what is above. You belong to this world – a world which cannot hold me.” (John 8:23) The world cannot hold God bound to its natural, human or civil laws unless He allows it because the world was just part of His Creation. Everything in the universe is subject to Him. Remember that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are one. What, then, provoked the ‘seemingly uncharacteristic’ display of anger by the Son of Man towards Peter? It is this, direct from the mouth of God, “You are not judging by God’s standards but by man’s.” Applying human logic, if it is at all applicable, to the Rabbi’s emphatic declaration, judging by man’s standards is satanic. A cursory review of the Book of Genesis disclosed that, at the outset, man and woman acted independently of God; they defied the simple word or order or commandment of the Lord. At the outset, man and woman acted dependently on Satan, the ancient serpent; they followed or listened to the Devil’s standards. That is the Scriptural basis that judgment by man’s standards is satanic that, understandably, elicited God’s ire. Peter, with his strong opposition to the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Passion and Resurrection, was consciously or not treading Adam’s wayward path. He was forwarding Satan’s perpetual advocacy of opposing God and all His works. Satan the Impostor, as every Christian knows, always thinks and acts in opposition to God and will exhaust all its might to thwart the fulfillment of the Scriptures. The lesson that is being conveyed here is that no human judgment, thinking or perception is ever good if it is not in keeping or is not in line with God’s word and all His works. Any human endeavor that falls short or goes beyond what God prescribed is always satanic. God does not compromise His word and He never did because there is nobody like Him and there is nobody above him. Noncompliance with His word always carries with it a penalty or a curse but a covenant with Him carries a precious reward and a promise fulfilled.Unfortunately, man has always been consistent with himself. He continues to defy GOD. He addressed the virgin from Nazareth ‘Woman’. We insist she is her ‘Mother’. Other sects says she is just an ordinary woman or even less. It is the word of GOD against our word. We are better than GOD. Isn’t that strange?