Matthew 16:22

New International Version (NIV)

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

For Meditation

What was Peter thinking about? Who rebukes God? But that is exactly what he did when he took Jesus to the side and told him, “Never Lord!” At least, Peter was respectful enough not to rebuke Jesus in front of the other disciples. Some of us are not that discreet. We shoot from any angle without respecting the dignity of the other party. We do the same with God all the time without realizing what we have done.

When Jesus asked the disciples who people said the Son of Man was, they replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets,” (Matt 16:14). They all had it wrong. Jesus was neither John nor Elijah, and He was certainly more than a prophet. He is the promised Messiah, and Peter had it right when Jesus turned the general question to the personal, “But what about you” (16)?

“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus blessed Peter for his Spirit-revealed response; but did Peter understand the full extent of his answer? Did he really comprehend that Jesus is God? If he did, he should have known that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways (Is. 55:8). Peter assumed that his expectations, and indeed, that of most Israelites, about the Messiah’s deliverance of their nation from the Roman rule and the establishment of David’s Kingdom was exactly God’s thoughts. He presumed that his methodology was God’s way of establishing His Kingdom. While Peter thought of a physical kingdom with all the earthly benefits he could expect, Jesus had started talking about His death in Jerusalem in a little while. Such a thought displeased Peter, and so he rebuked Jesus – “Never Lord! … This shall never happen to you!” (22).

1. Have you come against God’s will in such a rude way before?
2. Has His thoughts and plans ever been so averse to you?
3. How did you deal with it?
4. Did you start commanding Satan to get behind you, thinking that was not God’s will because it did not fit with your plans?
5. Have you ever looked into God’s face in your darkest hour and literally told Him, “Never Lord! That is not going to happen. You have to kill me first.”?

The good thing is, God understands our weaknesses and compassionately deals with our rebuke with grace. He just fed His weary and fearful prophet, Elijah, without rebuking him for his utterances (1 Kings 19:4-9). He graciously dealt with Jonah, His runaway messenger to Nineveh, and brought him in line with His redemptive plan for the sinner (Jonah 4:1-3; 9-11). He understands your stubbornness in your current situation too, and He will reveal His heart to you and restore you. Just have a listening ear and a repentant heart. He is fine with that.

God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways.

Shalom