Beautiful People, 

Christ's most scathing rebukes were made through love. According to Ellen G. White, "He was never rude, never needlessly spoke a severe word, never gave needless pain to a sensitive soul. He did not censure human weakness. He spoke the truth, but always in love. He denounced hypocrisy, unbelief, and iniquity, but tears were in His voice as He uttered His scathing rebukes." This was the disposition He had when rebuking Peter in Matthew 16:23. After he declared Christ as the Messiah, Peter must have been bewildered at the Savior's prediction of His death and resurrection.

He protested empathically, "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" Peter had a concept of Messiah that was misaligned with Scripture. Though the Father helped Peter understand the divine nature of Christ, he still didn't understand the mission and character of the Messiah. I can empathize with Peter. At times, I have created my version of Christ to meet my needs; however, the grace of Christ corrects that misalignment with a rebuke of love. "Get behind me, Satan" may sound harsh, but when it comes from the lips of Christ, I welcome it. I would rather Christ rebuke and call me to repentance than live a hollow Christianity centered on an idol of my creation.   

Christ's rebuke to Peter teaches us a few things. The first is that the Devil, the flesh, and the world can influence us. This unholy trinity presents evil intentions as good. Christ's rebuke to Peter was directed towards the one who had prompted the initial thought—Satan. This interaction causes me to think, "In what ways have I allowed Satan to influence the way I perceive Christ, myself, and others?" Once we have found these traps in our thoughts and behaviors, Christ commands us to cut these things out of our lives (Matthew 5:30 & Matthew 18:9).

This may mean changing what we see, hear, touch, feel, and taste. Christ desires to be known by us and will not stand for a counterfeit. The second lesson we get from this rebuke is centered on service. Christ says, "You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns" (Matthew 16:23, NIV). We become stumbling blocks to each other when we focus on serving ourselves; however, freedom is found when we put the concerns of God above our own. 

Finally, Christ closes His rebuke with an invitation, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24, NIV). This invitation course corrects Peter's misaligned notion of the Messiah and His mission. Friends, this is why I love Jesus. Even though I become misguided and lost, He finds me and invites me into deeper intimacy. Through the denial of self, I am freed to live the life Christ desires me to have—a life focused on God's concerns.