Feb 8: Know your place

Mark 8:33  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

Peter was getting pretty close with Jesus. He was after all among the first hand-picked disciples of Christ, and He was certainly part of an inner circle within the 12 disciples. There are many instances that Jesus only takes Peter, James and John to witness certain events (e.g.: transfiguration, Jairus daughter healing). So it is no surprise that Peter also has special knowledge of who Jesus is. A few verses earlier in Mark 8:27-30, Jesus poses this question to His disciples asking them “Who do men say I am?” to which they answer “John the Baptist; but some say Elijah; and other, one of the prophets”. Then He asks the disciples “But who do you say that I am?” to which Peter responds “You are the Christ”. The answer is truly revelatory as Jesus Himself says “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven”. (Mt 16:17) That is a significant statement coming from Jesus. Peter I am sure at this point has reached cloud nine! To make it even better, Jesus proclaims a blessing and establishes Peter’s call by confirming his spiritual leadership position in the kingdom of God (for Jesus said that He will build his church upon Peter’s leadership and that he would be given the keys of the kingdom of heaven and the power to bind and loosen things on earth).

I am sure some of us has had an experience where we got a special revelation from God and we feel extremely blessed by it. Or it could be a special gift that you received like the power to heal the sick, or the gift to prophesy, or the gift of faith and wisdom. People recognize you for your gifting, and come to you to be prayed for. You have a close relationship with the Lord, and you call the Holy Spirit your friend. It is a blessed state to be in.

But beware. Your closeness to the Lord does not make you devil proof or temptation free. In fact, the closer you are Jesus, the more you risk being tricked by Satan. And today’s portion is a classic example of this. Peter suddenly thought that his special status amongst the disciples gave him the privilege of counseling God. You know, because he’s best buddies with God’s Son. So we this is stark contrast of how Jesus deals with Peter when he comes up with suggestions on how to save the world. When Jesus spoke about his upcoming sufferings and that He would be handed over to be crucified, Peter takes Jesus aside and starts counseling Him. In fact, the Bible says that Peter rebuked Jesus saying “Far be it from You Lord; this shall not happen to You”. I think it’s the language that Peter used that made Jesus upset. If Peter had sincerely enquired with the intention to learn more, he would not have been chastised. But Peter’s tone was more like that of a big brother. Of course his intentions were pure, but he suddenly stood as a hindrance to God’s plan. That is why Jesus had to rebuke the Satan out of Peter! The disciple who was on cloud nine a little earlier is now on the floor. If he could hide under the ground, I am sure he would have. I mean there is nothing more embarrassing than being called “Satan”!

I hear many people referring to Jesus as if He is their friend from college. Or even elevating themselves to the position of being a sibling to Christ. Of course, there are scriptures to back these claims of friend, and brother, and sister, and so on. But let’s not allow that privileged status fool us to make us believe that we can suddenly influence or modify God’s sovereign plans to align with our way of thinking. In the grand scheme of things, God is God, and man is man. A Father is that, and a son is that. It’s not a superior-inferior relationship in any way. But neither is it a parallel-equal relationship. We can switch from ‘most anointed’ to ‘most wretched’ in a matter of seconds.

The conclusion of this matter is this: Know your place. Allow God’s will to overrule yours. Let His thoughts take over yours. Humbly submit to the path that He has already chosen for us. It may not all make sense at this stage (like Peter felt when Jesus spoke about needing to die).  But one day, it will. And you will look back and declare “God truly is great”.