But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
(Matthew 16.23
NRSV)
The disciples had been with him for quite some time and Jesus felt it was time to bring them up to speed on what would happen next. He gathered them around him and told them that he "must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised." Wow! The disciples certainly weren't expecting anything like that. They just looked at each other, too shocked to say anything. They were visibly shaken. They thought Jesus would come to power, and they would hold positions of stature in his kingdom. They never thought he would suffer and die.
Leave it to Simon Peter to speak what the other disciples were thinking. Peter took Jesus aside and said, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." Peter spoke harshly to Jesus. He rebuked Jesus.
Has anyone ever said something to you that reminded you of someone else, or of some other experience? When Peter rebuked Jesus, Jesus heard the voice of the tempter once again tempting him as he had done in the desert at the start of his ministry. Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block for me." Ironic that Peter the Rock was a stone Jesus stumbled over. Jesus told Peter his thoughts were not from God but man.
Dear God, thank you for Peter, because I have a lot to learn from him. May I be a rock in helping to expand your kingdom of hope. Amen.