Get Behind Me Satan

In Matthew 16, Jesus is telling his disciples about how he will be killed in the near future. Peter responds by saying “Far be it from you Lord! This will never happen to you.” Jesus reacts very swiftly by saying “Get behind me Satan!” Why does he say this? It seems like a fairly mean response to make to a friend who’s just looking out for you.

Firstly, Jesus was not literally saying that Peter was “Satan.” Rather, he was reacting to Peter’s words which were not in accordance with what He knew His father’s will was for Him. Satan is a crafty guy and he knows how to create doubt in our minds. One of those ways is by using the people closest to us. Has this ever happened to you? Has God ever asked you to do something drastic or even crazy and when you mention it to your friends or family they give you a million reasons why that won’t work? These people are all well-meaning but do not know God’s will for your life. There are several stories of this in the Bible including Noah and Joshua where someone needed to go against the grain to accomplish God’s plan.

Another important point of the story is that when Peter says this to Jesus, Jesus doesn’t say “Oh, you think I shouldn’t go through with this? Let’s talk about it.” No. Jesus knew his Father’s will because he was in constant communication with the Father. Because of this he was able to recognize what was against His Father’s will immediately. Instead of entertaining the idea, he immediately shut the idea down. This is what we should be doing in our own lives. We cannot be “wishy-washy” when it comes to God’s will. We need to be like Jesus and strike forcefully aginst any idea contrary to Him. As the old saying goes: If you give Satan an inch, he will take a mile. Stand firm against any seeds of doubt that the Devil may be trying to plant in your life and stay in constant communication with the Lord so you can know his will for your life.