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Chapter
42 “Get
thee Behind Me, Satan” “From
that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his
disciples, how that he must go unto In this passage of
Holy Scripture there are some deep mysteries and profound spiritual truths
that need to be both carefully studied and laid to heart. Here we see the
eternal God talking about a death he must die, a faithful disciple of Christ
rebuking his Master, the Lord Jesus calling one of his beloved servants “Satan,”
the necessity of self-denial and commitment to Christ, the incomparable value
of our souls, the second advent of our Lord and the judgment that shall
accompany it, and the spiritual reign and kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Without question, in these verses there are some things hard to be
understood. May God the Holy Spirit, who inspired Matthew to write these
things, be our teacher as we study them. “He Must” “From
that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his
disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the
third day” (v. 21). — First, we see that as a Man, as our Mediator
and Substitute, as Jehovah’s Servant, there are some things that the Lord Jesus
Christ must do. As God, it could never be written, “He must.”
But as the Surety of the covenant, in order to fulfil
the terms of the covenant, because he is Jehovah’s voluntary Servant, there
are some things that the Scriptures declare the Lord Jesus Christ “must”
do. He told his parents that he must be about his Father’s business (Luke Here our Lord told his disciples that he must
go up to Jerusalem, suffer, and die, and rise again, the third day. Why must
he? It was because the Father ordained it, the prophets revealed it, the
types portrayed it, God’s justice demanded it, and the time appointed for it
had come. We cannot imagine how shocking this was to the disciples. Like the rest
of the Jews, they were not anticipating a Messiah who would suffer and die.
They looked for a political Messiah. It seems that all of the disciples were
confused about our Lord’s teaching regarding his death until it actually
happened, all except for the woman who anointed him for his burial. This is
what led to Peter’s error. True,
but Weak Second, we are once
again taught that a man can be a true disciple and yet be a weak disciple,
ignorant about many things. “Then
Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord:
this shall not be unto thee. But he
turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence
unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be
of God, but those that be of men.” (vv. 22-23). The issue of great importance is not what do you know, but who? It is not doctrine that saves, but Christ. I do not
suggest for a moment that a person can be saved trusting a false Christ. But
the Scriptures do show us, by numerous examples, that people who truly trust
Christ are ignorant of many, many things. Peter was, without a doubt, born again and a true believer (vv. 16-19).
He was a man taught of God (v. 17). Who can read the conversation between
Christ and Peter in the preceding verses and imagine that Peter was not yet
converted? Such an idea is too ludicrous to mention. Yet, there are some who,
attempting to defend an erroneous system of doctrine, dogmatically assert
that neither Peter, nor any of the other apostles and disciples of Christ,
were converted until after the Lord’s resurrection! This faithful and gracious man behaved very foolishly and ignorantly. –
“Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from
thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” Peter actually rebuked the Lord
Jesus and sought, like Satan, to hinder him from doing what he did come to
do! This man, who was so faithful in so many, many things, became an
instrument of Satan in his time of weakness. Because he had become an instrument of Satan, the Lord Jesus rebuked
his disciple as Satan. — “He turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind
me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest
not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” He spoke to
Peter as though he were himself Satan, because he had become Satan’s
instrument. He said, “Thou art an offence unto me,” a stumbling block.
“Thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Peter was
looking at things, judging things, and acting from a purely human, carnal,
and emotional point of view. His flesh was in the way. His flesh kept him from
seeing, at the time, the blessed necessity for our Savior’s death. Is
this Peter? Is this the same man that our Savior had just declared “blessed”
of God? Yes, he is the same man. Yet, to this man, beloved of God, chosen,
redeemed, and called by grace, to this man so highly favored and blessed of
God, the Lord Jesus spoke as he never spoke to any other. — “Get thee behind me,
Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest
not the things that be of God, but those that be of
men.”
Let us lay this to heart. If the Lord God is pleased to leave us, even
momentarily to ourselves and to our own judgment, we are sure to fall into
great and grievous evil. Perhaps,
it is for just this reason that the Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to record
both our Savior’s great love for us and Peter’s terrible, inexcusable
weakness at the same time. So great is our need and so great is the
determination of his love for our souls that the Lord Jesus Christ zealously
longed for the hour when, by his sufferings and death upon the cursed tree,
he would accomplish redemption for us. He was, as he put it, “straitened”
until it was finished. Substitution Third, this exchange between Peter and the Master
teaches us that there is no doctrine in the Bible so
important as the doctrine of Christ’s sin-atoning death as our Substitute.
That man who denies the doctrine of Christ’s effectual atonement, who deny the merit and efficacy of Christ’s death as our
Substitute, no matter what else they say that is true, do not savor “the
things that be of God.” C. H. Spurgeon wrote, “He knows not the taste,
the aroma, the essence of spiritual things; and however much he may honor
Jesus in words, he is an enemy, a real Satan towards the true Christ.” The
death of Christ is, as J. C. Ryle stated, “the
central truth of Christianity. Right views of his vicarious death and the
benefits resulting from it, lie at the very
foundation of Bible-religion. If we are wrong here, we are ruined forever.
Error on many points is only a skin disease. Error about Christ’s death is a
disease at the heart.” Whatever we think about the death of Christ,
let us always remember four things about it: (1.) Our Savior’s death was
accomplished by his own sovereign will and purpose (John Self-denial “Then
said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose
it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (vv. 24-25). Fourth, the Lord Jesus
teaches us that true, saving faith involves deliberate and persevering,
self-denial and consecration. Matthew Henry wrote, “The first lesson in
Christ’s school is self-denial.” Those who deny themselves here for Christ
shall enjoy themselves in Christ forever. Grace is free; but it is not cheap.
Faith in Christ involves the total surrender of myself
to him, to his dominion as my Lord and Savior, my Priest and King. That is
what it is to take up your cross and follow Christ. Christianity,
true Christianity, true saving faith involves a total surrender to Christ the
Lord. Either you will be a servant under the dominion of King Jesus,
voluntarily giving up all to his claims, or you will go to hell. You may not
have to give up anything in actuality. But surrender to Christ must be just as
real and complete in your heart as if you had actually given up everything,
even down to life itself. Our Lord Jesus Christ requires total and unreserved
surrender to himself. Christ will be Lord of all, or he will not be Lord at
all. Is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, your Lord? Is
he truly your Lord? But we must never imagine that
this is a matter dealt with only in the initial experience of grace and in
the initial act of faith. Here our Lord Jesus addresses these words to men
who had been his faithful disciple for a long time. How
graciously he warns us and teaches us to guard against the terrible tendency
of our sinful flesh to rebel against his rule and his will. How much evil we
bring upon ourselves by our carnal misapprehensions! We are all, like Peter,
inclined to judge things by our emotions and personal desires. We must not.
Rather, we must seek grace to know and bow to the will of God our Savior in
all things. Oh! for grace to savor the things which
are of God, and not those which are of men! “His
Own Soul” Fifth, we are again taught
that there is nothing so precious and valuable as
your soul. — “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man
give in exchange for his soul?” (v.26) — Here is a question so well known
and so often repeated that I fear that few take it to heart. It ought to
sound in our ears like a trumpet, whenever we are tempted to neglect our
eternal interests. There is nothing the world can offer, nothing money can
buy, nothing a man can give, nothing to be named in comparison with our
souls. We live in a world where everything is temporal. We are going to a
world where everything is eternal. Let us count nothing here more valuable
than we shall when we have to leave it forever! Our
Reward Sixth, in verse 27, our Savior, having declared the
value of our souls, assures his disciples and us that our reward is yet to
come. — “For the Son of man shall come in the
glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man
according to his works.” In the day of judgment, every man will
get exactly the reward that he deserves, according to the books, the ledgers
of heaven. The wicked shall be judged according to their own works. The
righteous shall be judged according to their own
works, too, – the works of Christ imputed to us in free justification. The
Connection Seventh, in verse 28 the Lord Jesus shows the connection
between his death, his resurrection, and his kingdom, or his spiritual reign
as King. — “Verily I say unto you, There be some
standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man
coming in his kingdom.” This text has caused much controversy
among those visionaries who think they can predict or have figured out what
they call God’s “prophetic time table.” This is not talking about the second
coming and a millennial reign, or the destruction of Yet, our Lord seems to blend into
one his glorious second coming (v. 27), and his coming in grace (v. 28). The
fact is ľ all his works are
one. And every coming of Christ is glorious, both when he first comes in
grace to awaken our souls and in all the visits of his grace that follow,
until he finally comes to take us home to glory. As Simeon of old could not
die until he had seen the Lord Jesus and held him in his arms, so there are
some (a great multitude that no man can number) who shall not taste death
until Christ is revealed to them and embraced in their arms of faith. And
just as this prophecy was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, it is fulfilled
every time a chosen, redeemed sinner is called to life and faith in Christ.
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