But He turned and told Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns, but man’s.”     Matthew 16:23 HCSB

To take this Scripture passage in the context in which it is written, we look back in Matthew 16 at verses 17-19. Jesus had just asked Peter and the disciples who they thought He was, and they confessed that He was the Messiah. He tells Peter that He is blessed because the Father in Heaven had revealed this to him.

Next, Jesus predicts His death by telling them that He will go into Jerusalem, and suffer at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes. He tells them He will be killed and raised on the third day (Matthew 16:21). This upsets Peter and Peter says, “Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you!”

But very quickly after Jesus tells Peter how blessed He is, Peter’s mouth gets him in trouble. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been there, done that, and got the T-shirt. I can be doing well one minute and then I open my big mouth and blow it.

Peter rebukes Jesus saying this will never happen, then Jesus sharply rebukes Peter. It seems pretty harsh for Jesus to tell Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!” But Jesus explains his reason for doing so. Peter is looking at this from a worldly perspective, not from the perspective of God’s plans.

Our focus should always be on God and His kingdom. We are told in Isaiah 55:8-9 that God’s ways are higher than our ways. God has a plan, often His plan is much bigger than what our finite minds can comprehend.

The problem with Peter is that Peter was speaking against God’s plans. Jesus was born to die for our sins. He came to earth so that we could be set free from the bondage of sin and death. He knew it was God’s plan for Him to be crucified.

In Matthew 20:18-19, Jesus predicts His death for a third time. He is more specific this time telling His disciples that He will be condemned to death by the chief priests and scribes. He tells them they will then hand Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified, and He will be resurrected on the third day.

There were times in the Bible when Peter messed up. He became upset when Jesus was arrested in the garden and cut off the soldier’s ear. Just as Jesus predicted, he denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.

We also know, however, that Peter loved the Lord. He did what he did as far as rebuking Jesus by saying this could never happen and cutting off the soldier’s ear because of His love for the Lord. The problem was he was trying to thwart God’s plan.

This is where he truly messed up. We can do the same if we aren’t careful. For us to stay in God’s will and understand God’s plan, we must be in a close relationship with Him. We must be in constant prayer and daily Bible study.

We may not always understand His plan, but we must be willing to surrender to it. We are not to lean on our understanding, but we are instructed to acknowledge Him in all we do (Proverbs 3:5-6).

We must be focused on God’s kingdom. It helps if we understand that this world and all that is in it is temporary and we are just passing through.

Peter redeemed Himself even after denying Jesus. He preached the gospel and healed the sick in Jesus’ name after Jesus ascended into heaven.

If you have tried to thwart God’s plan or maybe denied Him in your life, it’s not too late. Jesus died so we can be redeemed. Confess your sins to Him and ask for His forgiveness. He is faithful to forgive and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Trust in Him today and stay focused on God and His kingdom and don’t allow Satan to tempt you to be overly focused or concerned about what is happening in this world today. Matthew 6:33 tells us if we will simply focus on Him and His righteousness, He will take care of all we need.

James 4:7 tells us to submit to God, resist the devil and He will flee from you.

Have a great day!