Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men

 

 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."

Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

 

- Mark 8:22-33 

 

Yesterday we read that the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Jesus, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."  And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it that you do not understand?"

 

  Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."  My study Bible says of this passage that the people of Bethsaida were unbelieving (Matthew 11:21); therefore Jesus leads this blind man out of the town to heal him, so that the people would not scoff at the miracle and bring upon themselves greater condemnation.  (It's not unusual for Christ to separate those being healed from scoffers; see, for example, Mark 5:40.)  That the blind man was healed in stages, my study Bible notes, shows that he had only a small amount of faith, for healing occurs according to one's faith.  Yet this little faith was enough, and it increased with the touch of Christ.  My study Bible adds that Christ's command not to return to the town symbolizes that we must not return to our sins once we have been forgiven.  Possibly not to go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town is a way to continue to shore up his faith and stay away from those who would ridicule.

Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.  My study Bible tells us that  "Who do you say that I am?" is the greatest question a person can ever face, as it is the question that defines Christianity.  Peter's correct answer to the question prevents the Christian faith from being seen as simply another philosophical system or path of spirituality.  In Matthew's Gospel, he names Jesus as the one and only Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16).  This position excludes all compromise with other religious systems, my study Bible says.  Peter's understanding cannot be achieved by human reason, but only by divine revelation through faith (1 Corinthians 12:3).  Christ means "Anointed One," and is equivalent to the Hebrew title "Messiah."

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  My study Bible comments that after Peter's confession, Jesus reveals the true nature of His messiahship:  the mystery of His Passion.  It was expected that the Messiah would reign forever -- so the concept that Christ would die was perplexing to Peter.  It would remain scandalous to the Jews even after the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 1:23).  Peter unwittingly speaks for Satan, as the devil did not want Christ to fulfill His mission and save mankind through suffering and death.

Jesus tells Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  Jesus statement affirms for us what is also written by Isaiah in the Old Testament:  "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord" (Isaiah 55:8).  Our rational reduction of expectations down to theories and abstracts and rules will never fit the God of unexpected dimensions, the God who heals in ways that are hard for us to accept (as in the healing of the blind man in the first part of today's reading), and who comes to us in ways that are unimaginable -- such as in the human Jesus of Nazareth.  How can God be human? we might as well ask ourselves.  Why would God become human to die a horrible death of crucifixion?  The ways in which God works to solve problems are illumined to us through Scripture as ways which defy human expectation and reasoning.  And yet, we accept these things as true, and our theologians come to answer these questions as well.  There are so many profound realities that come from these unexpected manifestations of God's work and God's will that their myriad blessings to us answer the questions themselves.  How could God become human?  Let us ask what it does for us that God becomes human, instead.  It shows God's love, God's willingness to sacrifice and suffer for us, God's desire to be close to us, to reclaim us, to find us as "lost sheep" who need a Shepherd.  As my study Bible says, this identity of Christ separates Christianity from being just another philosophical tradition, because it opens up a truly personal understanding of and communion with Creator, in a way that is impossible to achieve otherwise.  Christ's suffering and death on the Cross truly teaches us that He was willing to share completely in our own pains in this imperfect world, even experiencing human death -- and He even stated that we are in this together with Him, expecting us to take up our own crosses and go through life in this world just as it is, but with Him (Luke 9:23).  His life, death, and Resurrection confirms to us that we are in this together, in a communion, and He invites us in to His saving mission; our participation is a necessary part of His mission for this world.  Given all of these meanings that we derive from His life, and even from His death, what questions are then left to be answered, opened up, and asked in light of what we can understand?  And that is the mystery that opens up for us as well, a kind of journey into the future -- both for "the world" and for our own immediate personal lives -- that teaches us that Christ's mission into this world offers us not just a belief system, but a way of life, and one that continues to open up during our lifetimes.  His ministry did not last one day, did not consist of one mission statement, but for three years continued with the disciples, as they went through town after town, in all the regions of Israel and among Gentile areas (such as Caesarea Philippi in today's reading), as they met with receptivity and condemnation, belief and unbelief.  And that is a mirror of our lives and our faith journey as well.  His life opens up so many more questions for us, but the answers are to be found in faith, and through experience of that faith working itself out as we meet the challenges in our own lives, in prayer and in communion with Him and His saints seeing and helping us through it.  Like the blind man, there may be times when we need to withdraw to shore up our faith; like Jesus and the disciples we may need to find an isolated place where we can receive the surprising ways our faith might ask us to proceed, even the hardships we may be asked to endure which are seemingly impossible to understand without hindsight.  Yet, this is our surprising way, for we are to be always mindful of the things of God, and not simply the things of men.