Our Mistake: Mismanaged Mindsets

Matthew 16:23 contains hard words to read.

Jesus and His band of students had just finished a deep conversation.  Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  And their response was honest, “Well some say You’re John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”  (vss 13-14)

But in true Jesus form, He pressed further.
“But who do you say I am?”  (vs 15)

My dear, over-zealous and yet highly relatable buddy, Peter, responds this way, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  (vs 16)

Ahh yes… Peter wins the prize.  You can almost hear the applause from the crowd in resounding approval.

Jesus was pleased too.  He calls him “blessed” (vs 17), and confirms His calling by telling him this, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”  (vs 18).  He goes on, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.”  (vs 19)

It’s powerful reassurance.
It’s compelling authority.
It’s a high call from The Most High Himself.

And scripture tells us that from that point on, Jesus began sharing the news with His students, “plainly” and “often” how necessary it was for Him to go to Jerusalem, and that He would, indeed, “suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law.”  (vs 21).  He said as clearly as He could that He would, “be killed, but on the third day be raised from the dead.”  (vs 21)

But Peter, having just received His personal commission for greatness in Kingdom work, was having NONE of it.  Scripture tells us that he, “took Jesus aside and began to reprimand Him for saying such things."  He says straightaway, “This will never happen to You.”  (vs 22)

To this Jesus says something that is hard to read.  He says this, “Get away from Me, Satan!  You are a dangerous trap to Me.  You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”  (vs 23)

Mark’s Gospel includes something else in the narrative not seen here.  Mark 8:33 says this, “Jesus turned around and looked at His disciples then reprimanded Peter.”  
It was as if He was aware of the temptation the ALL had to think this way, so He chooses in this moment to address them in a “blanketed” manner.

I can see both sides of the story here.
Peter, just having received the highest honor given by Christ Himself, now is seen in complete alignment with the temper, Satan.
Strength immediately turned weakness.
A fair warning to us that large calling doesn’t negate punishment for ill behavior.

And what was his “sin” actually?
He loved Jesus.
He was not only an appointed disciple, but he was, too, in the inner circle of Jesus’ small group.
He had witnessed miracles.
He’d been at His side through all of His kingdom business.
And so defending His honor seemed appropriate.
Preserving His dignity seemed like the right thing to do.

But it wasn’t.

Jesus had work to do.. an assignment to fulfill… and Peter’s disapproval served as a delay in that mission.

His sin is spelled out for us in verse 23, “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

Oh yeah.  This.

Isaiah 26:3 says this, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You.”

We will gain peace when we trust in Him and fixate our thoughts solely on Him.

This is huge for us!
Could it be that our sin lies in the fact that our minds are set on earthly things and that we measure the current conditions of our world, and any “hope” we have for the future by human reasoning and not by divine standards?

Romans 8:5 says this, “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.”
Colossians 3:2 says, “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.”

Peter’s sin was that he set his mind of earthy things.  He was consumed with temporal concepts, and maintained narrow understanding due to misaligned focus.

Our thoughts must be fixed upon Jesus.  On heavenly perspectives.  On divine solutions.  On kingdom possibilities.

We risk a life of sin and separation when we fasten our eyesight on all what’s wrong… on all that is unfair, corrupt, and wicked.

Our mistake is a mismanaged mind.

Time to readjust our vision to the One who knows, and still is working all things out.
ALL things.