Feb 2015 Monday Chapel
A lowly Savior gives bigger and better blessings
Is it OK or not OK to call people names? Probably not OK. Even if the person deserves to be called something - jerk, idiot, freak - you know you shouldn’t do that - you shouldn't call people names. How about Satan - have you ever called someone Satan?
Jesus did that once - and Jesus was perfect - he never sinned. And so when Jesus called someone Satan, it must have been the right thing to do. Do you remember the person that Jesus called Satan? Was it Judas, because Judas betrayed him? No. Jesus actually called Judas his friend, remember?: "Friend, do you what you came for." Those were Jesus' last words to Judas. Or maybe he called one of the Pharisees "Satan" or Pontius Pilate or the Roman soldiers Satan - was it one of them because they were so bad? No. Who was it then - do you remember?
It was the Apostle Peter. Now you would think that of all the people in the world, Jesus would never have called Peter Satan. Peter was one of the biggest followers of Jesus Christ - Peter once said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." And on that day, Jesus praised Peter: "You are Peter, and on this rock (this confession of faith) I will build my church."
So why in the world would Jesus call Peter a name, and of all the names, Satan? It seems pretty extreme. Let's look at our text for today:
Mark 8:31 Jesus then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
What did Peter do that was so wrong? Can you put yourself into Peter's shoes this morning? Peter really liked Jesus. Peter quit his fishing business, left behind everything, and followed Jesus around the countryside. Peter believed that Jesus was the Christ, but Peter's problem was that he "did not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
What did Peter have in his mind, that was so bad? Peter didn't like it when Jesus said that he was going to have to be rejected, and suffer, and die. That is not the plan that Peter had for Jesus. Jesus wasn't supposed to be rejected - he was supposed to become popular, really popular. Everyone was supposed to like him and cheer for him - "I love Jesus" bumper stickers on the backs of all the camels and donkeys. "Jesus is great" insignia written on all the robes of the people - all the turbans would have a Jesus swoosh on it. Jesus was supposed to be popular, not rejected, that was the plan in Peter's mind. He didn't like it that Jesus was saying the opposite.
And then when Jesus took it a step further and said that he was supposed to suffer and be killed? - Peter didn't like that either. If Jesus suffers and dies, well, that turns Jesus into a loser. Jesus wasn't supposed to suffer. He was supposed to become more and more powerful - maybe live in a palace and have lots of people serve him. And this whole idea of Jesus being killed? That's what happens to the losers. Jesus was supposed to live, and maybe even kill others - kill the Romans, who were so oppressive and they didn't give any glory to God. Kill all the bad guys - Herod, Pontius Pilate, Caesar - they're all going down - that was the plan, in Peter's eyes! And after Jesus beat the bad guys there would be free food and no more diseases and no more poverty or crime or oppression - that's what Jesus was going to do, Peter thought!
And so when Jesus started talking about suffering, and dying, Peter took Jesus aside. What are you doing, Jesus? If you talk this way, no one is going to follow you! No one wants to follow a lowly Messiah who suffers and dies.
And that's when Jesus called Peter that name: Get behind me Satan. Now why did Jesus come on so strong?
You see, Peter had something inside of him that Satan also had. Do you know why Peter wanted Jesus to achieve earthly greatness? Because deep down, Peter wanted earthly greatness too. Deep down, Apostle Peter wanted to be rich, and comfortable, and popular, and powerful, and if Jesus would just kick out the Romans and calm a few storms and heal some sick people, then Peter would finally get what he wanted. Really, what Peter had inside of himself was pride, self-centered, worldly, materialistic pride - the same thing Satan had. That's why Jesus said to Peter, You don't have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.
What would Jesus say if he looked into your heart and my heart this morning? Would Jesus say to you, "Get behind me Satan?" Why are you a follower of Jesus Christ? Are you hoping that if you follow Jesus, he will bless you with worldly things? Jesus, I will follow you, and so help me get good grades. I will follow you, and so help me have more friends. Make that girl or that guy like me more. Help me get into that college I want to get into. Help my team to win. I'll follow, but I want this, and I want that. Why do you follow Jesus? Are you like Peter? Am I like Peter? Do we have in mind the things of God, or the things of men?
We all struggle with this, sometimes. Haven't you ever wanted to yell at Jesus, like Peter does here? Jesus, I try hard in my religion classes, I go to church, and you still aren't answering my prayers! I follow you, and I get dumped. I follow you, and I get rejected by my college of choice. I follow you, and I just don't seem to fit in.
And Jesus says to you, and to me, Get behind me Satan. You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.
You see, this is what Jesus is all about - he is not our personal genie in the lamp and every time we need something we just pray and he pops out of the lamp and gives we whatever earthly thing we want.
That's not what Jesus is all about. He has in mind the things of God. Do you know what the things of God are? For sinners like you and me, the things of God all start with one word, and that word is forgiveness. Jesus comes into the world to take away the biggest problem you and I could ever face - he comes to take away our sin, our pride, our materialism - he comes and takes all of it away.
And it all starts with suffering. Do you know why Jesus had to suffer? It's because that suffering and that death was originally supposed to happen to you, and to me as a punishment for our sins. But Jesus, who is God, loves you, and does not want you or me to go to hell. And so he stands in our place. He suffers hell on the cross, and he takes all that rejection, and all that death, and he does it for you.
No one else in the world could ever love you as much as Jesus Christ did and still does. No one will ever sacrifice for you, or suffer for you, or die for you, the way Jesus Christ did on that cross. That's what Jesus is all about - yes he gives you earthly blessings according to his plan. But really, he's all about suffering and dying for you.
If you think about it, Jesus is interested in your popularity - he wants you to be popular with God the Father, and the only way he can make that happen is to take away your sins. And Jesus is interested in your success, but his definition of success is not of this world. He wants you to go to heaven when you die, and not hell. That's the Jesus-definition of success. And Jesus does want to have you power, but not earthly power. He wants to give you a special kind of power to rise from the dead and to live forever. That's real power. And you can't have any of these blessings and neither can I, unless he suffers and dies and takes away our sins.
How do we respond? Jesus will teach us how, this week, in Mark chapter 8. Until then, let's pray:
Dear Lord Jesus, we thank you for suffering, for being rejected, for dying on the cross. We thank you for doing all this for us. As we follow you, put into our hearts and minds the things of God, and not the things of man. Help us to faithfully follow you, and to appreciate the real and better blessings you give to us through your cross. Amen.
