“But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me Satan. You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
– Matthew 16:23
Wow, what a moment as Jesus looks at Peter. And keep in mind. So the context here, Peter has just confessed right before this, “Jesus, You’re the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” It’s a major monumental moment in his life, in the disciples lives.
Matthew 16:23 Narrates Peter’s Confusion
As all kinds of other people are saying all kinds of things about Jesus, but they confess, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus answers him, He says, “Blessed are you, for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you. My Father who’s in heaven revealed this to you. And I’m going to build My Church on you and on this confession that you have made, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” It’s an awesome moment.
Then, Matthew tells us about how Jesus begins talking about how He’s going to suffer and die, and on the third day be raised. And Peter takes Jesus aside and begins to rebuke Jesus saying, “Far be it from you Lord. This will never happen to you.” And that is when Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You’re a hindrance to me.” Wow, what a statement. “Get behind me.” What you are saying is from the devil, and it is a hindrance to me.
I cannot imagine being in Peter’s shoes in that moment. What are you thinking? You’re so confused. You thought you were encouraging Jesus. “This is not going to happen to you. You’re not going to suffer and die in this way.” And Jesus says, “Get behind me, Satan. You’re a hindrance to me.” And then He says, “For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” And I just want you to let that last sentence soak in today as you think about your life.
Matthew 16:23 Reminds us to set our minds on the things of God
Are you setting your mind today on the things of God or on the things of man? Because if you’re setting your mind on the things of man, then according to Matthew 16:23, Satan is driving your thinking and from that, your living. Jesus is calling you and me today to set our minds on the things of God, on God’s ways, on God’s word, on God’s perspective, on what is most important to God. And I just want to encourage you today to live accordingly, to live today with your mindset on the things of God. What is most important to God in your life today? Not what is most important in the world. What is most important to God to live accordingly.
God, help us to set our mind on You and the things of You. God, keep us from setting our mind on the things of man and the things of this world. And even the ways of this world and the ways we want in our lives, what Peter was so confused about here that we are so confused about in our lives. We get so caught up in the way this world works and in what we want for our lives, that we lose sight of what You want for our lives and the way You work in our lives, which often goes against the grain of what we in our sinfulness want. So God, help us.
Today, I pray for every single person listening to this right now, that You would help each of us to live today, all day long with our minds set on the things of You, on what is important to You, on Your ways and Your word, and help us to live accordingly.
Praying for the Abdul People
God, we pray today for the Abdul people of India and Pakistan, knowing there are so many of them who don’t know Your word, who don’t know the things of You because they’ve not heard the gospel. God, we pray for the spread of Your grace and Your glory and Your word to the Abdul people of India and Pakistan, across South Asia. Lord please, so that they can set their mind on You and the things of You. God, we pray for that for them, even as we pray based on Your word in our own lives, that You would help us to live today with our minds set on You and the things of You. In Jesus’ name, we pray according to Matthew 16: 23. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
