Mark 8:30-38: a reflection

30He commanded them that they should tell no one about him. 31He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He spoke to them openly. Peter took him and began to rebuke him. 33But he, turning around and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you have in mind not the things of God, but the things of men.” 34He called the multitude to himself with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the sake of the Good News will save it. 36For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? 37For what will a man give in exchange for his life? 38For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Jesus has just told his disciples plainly that he must suffer, be rejected, and be killed. Peter, who loves him, cannot bear it and pulls him aside to rebuke him: this must never happen to you. It comes from real affection. And Jesus answers with shocking severity: get behind me, Satan; you have in mind not the things of God, but the things of men.

Notice that Peter's intentions were good. He was not trying to harm Jesus; he was trying to protect him, to steer him away from suffering. And yet Jesus hears in that well-meant advice the voice of the tempter, urging him off the hard road the Father had set. The counsel to avoid the cross, however loving its source, had its mind on human comfort rather than God's purpose.

This is worth pondering, because the voice that steers us away from a costly, God-appointed path often comes wrapped in care, sometimes a friend's voice, sometimes our own. Not every well-meaning word that spares you difficulty is from God; some of it, gently, sets its mind on the things of men. Learn to ask of the advice you receive, and of your own instinct to avoid the hard right thing: is this minding the things of God, or the things of men? The loving voice is not always the godly one.

Lord, not every voice that spares me hardship is from you. Give me discernment to tell the things of God from the things of men, even in well-meant advice and my own comfort-seeking, and courage to walk the costly road you set.