Surrendering All

“Get me behind, Satan!,” Jesus said to Peter. “You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:23)

Imagine Jesus comparing you with Satan! Why would he say such a thing?

Matthew tells us that Jesus’ statement was in response to something Peter had said to him. Jesus had revealed he was to go to Jerusalem, suffer at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and later resurrected. “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord; this shall not happen to you!”

In some ways it appears that Jesus overreacted. Peter on the one hand goes to his brother and friend with a concern, while Jesus on the other hand rebukes him for being honest with him. But a deeper reading of this passage and its context teaches a vital lesson. Jesus’ words that follow the rebuke of Peter: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Jesus is trying to teach that we must be willing to give our all, that the cause for which he came is worth the sacrifice of everything. Throughout Jesus’ ministry he talked about counting the cost, the pearl of great price, putting one’s hand to the plow and not looking back, selling what one has and following him, and dozens of other such references. Jesus wants our all because he is Lord of all. We now work for a new boss whose demands are great, but at the same time light.

Along with that, Jesus makes the same commitment for himself that he demands of us. When he talked to his disciples about the things he would have to suffer, he was telling them that he was so committed to his cause that he himself would surrender all, leaving no breath and no drop of blood behind. So when Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him for saying such things, Jesus perceived it for exactly what it was: Satan’s lie that we really don’t need to give it all to God, that we can hold something back from him.

Jesus demands to be Lord of all because he doesn’t want to leave a foothold for the devil in our lives. That’s why Peter’s statement deserved that rebuke.