Mark 8:31 – 33
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
This chapter concludes with this interaction where Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him just after Jesus has shared some difficult truths about his ministry up ahead – the ministry of a suffering servant. I would love to have seen that – Peter taking Jesus aside and rebuking him. It’s one of those scenarios where you know what happens next will not be good for Peter and you are glad you weren’t the one to speak even though you might have shared some of Peter’s concerns.
In responding to Peter Jesus hones in on ‘concerns. He divides our concerns into two categories – God’s concerns and the rest. We are challenged to view our concerns in this way from now on. Jesus encourages us to give weight to God’s concerns, to be part of His story so that God’s concerns become the concerns that concern us the most. But remember that our loving Father is concerned for us, every detail of our lives. We see this attitude in Jesus in response to the hungry crowd.
Let’s rejoice today that Jesus was willing to be the suffering servant for us and may his concerns grow in our lives as we continue to love and honour him, as we place all our concerns into his loving nail-scarred hands.
Tim Hewlett – Creek Road