(If you have found this sermon useful, please visit us at www.HeritageRestorationProject.org or www.ChristianWisdom.info)
Comparing a variety of Biblical versions can be very helpful, and given the fact that the original New Testament texts were written in an old form of Greek, drawing out the exact meaning of the text and transferring that meaning to English is difficult. Through comparison of the various translations, sometimes we can discover sometime new in the passage that we might otherwise have missed. For example, let’s look at verse 23 from our Gospel reading for today. In the New International Version this passage reads: “Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
I think that the meaning becomes even clearer in the Good News Version: “Jesus turned around and said to Peter, ‘Get away from me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my way, because these thoughts of yours don't come from God, but from man.’"
In still another version, the Contemporary English Version, we find the passage rendered as follows: “Jesus turned to Peter and said, ‘Satan, get away from me! You’re in my way because you think like everybody else and not like God.’”
Is it proper to use diverse translations? Before I go any further, let me offer the opinion of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible. In 1611, in the preface section of their translation titled “The Translators to the Readers”, they answered that question in the following way:
“We affirm and avow, that they meanest translation of the Bible in English, set forth by men of our profession… containeth the word of God, nay, is the word of God… though it be not interpreted by every Tanslator with the like grace, nor peradventure so fitly for phrase, nor so expressly for sense, everywhere…. For is the Kingdom of God become words or syllables? Why should we be bondage to them if we may be free, use one precisely when we may use another no less fit, as commodiously?” Here, the scholars who put together the King James Version of the Bible argue rather convincingly for comparative use of different translations of the Bible. That being said let us go forward.
The problem with what Peter has said to Jesus is not just that the thoughts come from Satan rather than God. That is the root of the problem, but the problem is made all the more difficult because everybody seems to think this way. It’s a bit harder to see this in the other translations, but, it’s hard to miss in the Contemporary English Version.
Today I’m going to explain as best I can why I think it is so important to speak with one’s own voice authentically tuned to the influence of the Holy Spirit rather than allowing others to speak for us, and why I think this was part of what Jesus was trying to teach Peter in His response, “Get out of my way Satan”.
But first let’s start with a common experience that maybe you have shared. This will provide a common frame of reference. Have you ever talked to others passionately until blue in the face, but they didn’t receive the message you were sending? They didn’t hear or understand, but not because you were not speaking clearly. Your statements were dismissed simply because what you were saying was contrary to what the majority says or thinks. I have a hunch that most of us have had that type of experience. I know I have. It’s frustrating. And I think Jesus himself experienced this frustration. That is at least part of what is going on in today’s Gospel lesson. Peter wasn’t getting it, couldn’t comprehend what Jesus was saying, and a big part of the reason for this was that what Jesus was saying was contrary to what the majority says, thinks, or wants to hear, and, contrary to what Peter wanted to hear.
It is human nature to go along with ideas that the majority seem to hold. It’s easier not to have to think too much. Justifying a “contrarian” position requires courage and a lot of intellectual and emotional work. We don’t want to be different. We want to “fit in”. And once someone convinces us that everyone else is thinking a certain way, whether they are or not, the path of least resistance is to start thinking that way ourselves. That is why propaganda can be so numbing, dulling and effective.
Nazi Germany was built upon repeating lies over and over again until the people of Germany became so used to hearing these lies that they no longer questioned them, their critical judgement was suspended, they started ignoring the lies; they began to believe them. It is difficult for an individual or a minority group to stand against the majority. Most people conform without even realizing that they have been hoodwinked into doing so. That is the nature of propaganda. When lies are repeated often enough, people stop questioning.
From Joseph Goebbels to today’s unscrupulous outspoken radio loudmouths who blast everyone and anyone who disagree with them, the seeds of distrust aimed against those who disagree with the propagandists are sown. Unscrupulous propagandists who preach bigotry aim to intimidate people, to force them to give up their own voice, to stop listening to the inner voice of conscience. Their aim is to draw people into malleable conformity, often with disastrous results. The chief propagandist, the prince of liars, is Satan. He has many disciples.
Peter needed to be challenged not only because of the argument he expressed to Jesus, but also because of the ingrained habit of seeking validation of truth in what others say rather than in and through the Word of God illuminated through the inward working of the Holy Spirit. This is often where we ourselves need to be challenged as well today. There is no virtue, in God’s eyes, in thinking like everyone else.
Jesus tells us that God’s love is not a transaction, at least not from God’s perspective. It is not something we earn. Nor is it an entitlement. It is a gift given to us freely by God, if we are willing to receive it. But there is a catch, just one: we must be willing to receive the gift. One would think everyone would rush to receive such a gift, and yet even in the matter of accepting a free gift from God, “group think” prevails. Many are afraid to go to church or to make any public acknowledgement of their interest in and need for God. They are afraid to abandon the security of thinking like the majority, afraid of being perceived by their friends and neighbors as “psychologically needy”, afraid of being perceived as some sort of “religious nut case”. So many persons are simply not prepared to take that risk. And that is a problem for Christ because when we think like everybody else rather than for ourselves, we become an instrument of Satan.
Thinking as Satan wishes us to think, without personal critical judgement, gets in the way of work of Jesus Christ. Look again at Matthew 16:21-23. Poor Peter only wanted to tell Jesus that surely God would not want Him to suffer. Peter only wanted Jesus to stop talking so morbidly about the cross. Peter only wanted Jesus to understand that bad things do not have to happen to good people, at least not if they will only calm down and stop talking in ways that challenge the power structures of this world. Peter was just trying to protect Jesus. He didn’t want Jesus to get into trouble. But the Lord would have nothing of it! Jesus resisted Satan’s plan for humanity. He was faithful for God’s plan of salvation for humanity, and so must we, if we are to be his followers.
God has a plan of salvation for us. That plan involves death, not only Christ’s sacrificial death, but also the death of that part of each person which is under the dominion of Satan. Peter, thinking he was doing right when actually he was doing the will of Satan, scolded Jesus, and tried to shut Him up when he spoke of the cross, to which Jesus responded… “Satan, get away from me! You're in my way because you think like everybody else and not like God”.
I’d like you to really stop and think about this. I doubt that there is more than a very small fraction of the population in America today who would be willing to speak out as Jesus did. Instead, we tend to advance the most commonly held viewpoints without regard to whether or not those viewpoints are confirmed by the Word of God and the testimony of the Holy Spirit.
Yes, I’m sure Peter meant well when he took Jesus aside and told him to stop talking about His impending death. But Peter didn’t understand the ways of God at that point in his life. He just didn’t realize how what he was saying had been shaped by Satan and was being used by Satan. In the same way, many Americans today don’t watch for the leading of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Many allow others to think for them. The majority no longer consult the Word of God. They no longer pray about important decisions seeking the illumination of the Holy Spirit before making important decisions. Even dedicated church-going persons may have let the fire go out, and worse, don’t even realize it.
Now hear the words of our Gospel lesson once again and really think about the meaning of these words: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find it.’”(Matthew 16:24-25).
We must die to security. We must die to self-righteousness. We must die to party and tribalism. We must die to fear cause by thinking and speaking differently than the majority.
In Romans 12:2 (NIV) the Apostle Paul writes: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, His good, acceptable and perfect will.”
Are you ready to risk thinking differently than others? Are you ready to risk being different than others? Are you a patriot of God’s Kingdom willing to die for God’s heavenly country? Are you really ready to put God first, above mindless and senseless political dogmatisms, above the prejudices, hatreds and divisions that plague our land today? Are you ready to lay down your own prejudices, to die to self, to listen objectively to those with competing ideas? If not, then Jesus has a message for you: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men”
(If you found this sermon helpful, please visit us at www.HeritageRestorationProject.org)
