Matthew 16:23,25, “But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man…”
I’m always intrigued by the seeming irony of Jesus’ statement here. Peter has just said, essentially, that there is no way he would ever allow Jesus to be beaten and mocked and crucified….no, Jesus is the Messiah, God forbid that He should be murdered! And this mindset, Jesus says, is Satanic. How can that be? Well, it is because, as Jesus says, Peter is not setting his mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.
So, the first thing we can say is that to set your mind on the things of man is Satan-like. To think in the categories and with the priorities and with the goals and the values and the perspective of natural humanity is Satanic (because, as we see in Eph. 2:1-3 and elsewhere, Satan is the molding power of natural human thought and practice). Instead, the disciples of Christ must set their minds on the things of God….which is to say, on God’s priorities and goals and values and perspective. We are to think with our Father’s mind—which is to say, with the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5ff).
Just a quick thought regarding these things….how pervasive is the “mind of man” in our world! How pervasive is the Satanic perspective! And when I say “Satanic,” I’m not talking about overtly dark or demonic activity, I’m talking about the generally shared belief that one ought to guard one’s own, not get taken advantage of, stock up and stay safe, build your own kingdom, make a name for yourself, do what feels good, etc. etc. That—not black masses and animal sacrifices and cloaked priestesses—that is the face of Satanic influence in our world….or, at least in the Western culture that constitutes my “world.”
Jesus says that Peter’s Christ-preserving, (and, by implication, self-preserving) mindset is Satanic. Rather, Peter and the other disciples need to realize that following after the Lord’s Christ means that the road to victory is not one of ease and majesty, but of suffering and (worldly) shame. If anyone would be with the Christ, they must first deny themselves…..This, it would seem, is what Peter was not ready to do. His words looked like (and, indeed, were) a concern that Jesus not be murdered, but couched in them was the concern that he himself not be connected to a murdered Messiah, that he himself not be exposed to the shame and danger that would come from that association (and we see him act on this same fearful mindset in his three denials of the Lord).
“One who follows me”, Jesus says, “cannot think that way, Peter.” Rather, they must count their lives—all they are and have and hope to be, all of their ambitions, hopes and plans—they must count their lives as forfeit, and take up the cross—my cross—and follow in my path. What is that path? The path of self-giving love for the sake of Christ; for the sake of the gospel; for the sake of communicating to the world the all-satisfying beauty of Who the One True God has declared Himself to be in the Son who dies and rises again. Our cross—as with Christ’s cross—is Love. Yes, because love in this world will mean “crucifixion”; It will mean death; It will mean giving and giving and giving, dying and dying and dying, in small ways, in big ways, and—finally—in the ultimate way.
And this life of cross bearing will not be meaningless, this is the path of true life. Yes, this death of love died in Christ is the only way to truly find our lives, to truly be ourselves, to truly lay hold of that fullness of life whose shadow we seek in all of our worldly self-preservation. It is when we pour ourselves out that our light rises in the darkness, that our healing springs up speedily, that our gloom becomes as the noonday and our souls like a watered garden (Isaiah 58).
And all of this is carried out in light of Christ’s sure return. The day is coming when the Satanic scaffolding of this present world system will be incinerated in the light of the glory of God streaming from the face of the crucified one who lives forevermore. And when that happens, when the slain and risen Son of Man appears in the glory of his Father, surrounded by His angelic hosts, then it will become clear as crystal that the pattern of reality is self-giving love to the praise of the Triune God…..then it will become undeniable that the universe is tuned to the key of Trinitarian Love…..and every discordant note—the priorities and practices of the mind set on the “things of man”—will be exposed, put to shame, and harmonized to the whole (by, it would seem, the forfeiture of the soul of those who have so opposed the Lord, v.26).
May we, then, so live as to rejoice in that day! May we count our lives in this world as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord; may we lose our lives—may I lose my life—daily for the sake of His Name, pouring ourselves out in Christ-like love as we carry the cross of our Lord; and may we—when He dissolves the present heavens and earth with the radiance of His glory—may we rise up in joy to meet Him. It is impossible apart from Him! It is impossible apart from His indwelling Spirit who forms Christ in us; it is impossible apart from His enable, equipping, empowering grace! May He work in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ—Amen.
