Matthew 16:23 -- On Tragedy and Triumph

"Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."
Matthew 16:23


On the surface this seems kind of harsh. Peter is trying to comfort Jesus in the way that we sometimes do with our friends... no, no, that won't happen. We don't know, but we want to deny that bad things will happen and have only good things for those we love. It's a coping mechanism I think, so we don't have to face things that scare us. Totally understandable in a normal situation I think, but this wasn't a normal situation. This was Christ prophesying his own death... something he already didn't really want to do so much, but something he was going through because it was the Father's will, and also for us, to save us from ourselves. So, denial of prophesy as well as it being difficult to hear your friend kind of trying to talk you into going against the Lord's will when part of you feels that way too... that's why it was harsh I think.

Today, let's make sure we aren't arguing against the Lord whether in our own lives or to comfort someone else. Let's acknowledge God's will and comfort ourselves knowing that even if things are heartbreaking now, it is a temporary thing, because God's path leads to eternal happiness, and if we continue on that path, that is where we will all end up, together. That is certainly something to value over the things of men (usually ourselves), valuing temporary comfort over eternal joy. Let's get our priorities straight, as Peter did, and learn to value the timing and the blessings of the Lord, who endured the pain and the horror of this time in his life, because it was the precursor and a necessary part of the triumph, glory, and joy of his resurrection three days later. Every pain the Lord asks us to endure has a similar triumph waiting for us if we endure it well and keep walking his path.