Satan’s Stumbling Block

Jesus had revealed that He was going to Jerusalem, where He would suffer “and be killed, and be raised up on the third day” (v. 21). To Peter, this made no sense, so he rebuked Him! He felt that Jesus simply was wrong, and he was ready to intervene to prevent this misguided course of action.

What Jesus said must have shocked Peter. He said, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Jesus was accusing Peter of being used by Satan as “a stumbling block.” Peter was being used to try to trick Jesus into abandoning God’s call.

Jesus warned Peter that he was “not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Here, the word “interests” is not found in the Greek. Instead, Jesus presented two extremes: theos (meaning “God”) and ānthropos (meaning “man”).

Jesus was saying that Peter was not setting his mind on God, but on man. He was not thinking about God’s Kingdom, but man’s kingdom; not about eternal things, but temporary things. Jesus was showing us that Satan can trap us with false ideas that initially make sense to our minds.

To put this in context, Jesus told all the disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (v. 24). They were to follow Jesus wherever He went, no matter what the cost.

Remember: Satan will put stumbling blocks in your life. He will try to distract you, to trap and trick you, to get you to think only about this world, about today, about yourself. But Jesus said that your soul is of infinitely greater importance than any of these things. Make sure that you are committed to following Him.