²¹ From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. ²² Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

The contrast does not get any sharper than the present circumstances. Peter had just been commended for his pivotal statement of faith, that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16:16). Now he was rebuked in the harshest possible terms. What do we make of this turnabout?

The threshold of genuine faith in who Jesus was had been crossed, and now He began to announce to them what seemed to be the absolute worst possible news. They had just taken a momentous, radical leap of faith; if they were wrong, they would have placed themselves under the curse of blasphemy, breaking the 1^st commandment: “I am the Lord your God, You will not have other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:2-3). Their new faith carried eternal consequences, whether right or wrong.

Upon hearing of His impending death, they could listen no more—the part about resurrection didn’t register with them. Peter speaks up, censuring Jesus—the inspired author uses the word, “rebuke.” This is not what Peter and the others had in mind when they confessed faith in Jesus as the Christ. They, along with most Jews, expected the Messiah to bring Israel into prominence over all the nations. That couldn’t happen if Jesus died. Surely, He must be wrong!

Literally, Peter essentially says, “No, Lord.” He would make sure it wouldn’t happen! Loyalty personified, but misdirected. Peter was acting on very human impulses. We human beings find it difficult to bring actions and attitudes in line with the implications of our faith. It takes time to learn to say “Yes, Lord” to the seeming incongruity in our lives.

But, what to us looks like contradictions are simply means for God showing His greatness. The disciples where now ready to be taken deeper in their faith, new as it was. Their child-like faith needed to become more robust. Thus Jesus’ harsh words were intended to establish early on in strongest possible terms that to resist Christ is to side with the working of Satan.