Day 7 - Feb. 25

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

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

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Matt. 16:21-23

This rebuke of Peter often seems so harsh as we read it. Peter is the one who got out of the boat, Peter is the Rock, surely Peter cannot be against Jesus; he loves Jesus. But that was just the problem, Peter loved Jesus so much that he wanted to stay with Jesus. He wanted to build a place for Jesus, Moses and Elijah and he wanted to defend Jesus and make sure no harm came to him. Yet, that was not the plan. It was not God’s plan for Jesus to stay on that mountain covered in light and surrounded by the heroes of the faith. It was not God’s plan for him to have a long and peaceful life. Jesus’ life would change the world forever, but Peter didn’t see the bigger plan. Peter saw his rabbi, his messiah, his friend heading into something dangerous and wanted to stop him and to keep him safe. Too often we, like Peter, can find ourselves doing the wrong thing for all the right reasons. We protect our children out of our love for them but sometimes that means they aren’t given the room to fail or get hurt. We send our money to organizations that work in dangerous parts of the world, which is helpful and needed. Yet, we do not feel comfortable going ourselves. We pray for forgiveness of our sins, but do not try to make amends with those whom we have sinned against. Listen carefully to what God is calling you to do. Ask God to help you see past yourself so that you see the fullness of what God has planned.