Pulling Jesus Aside

I love Peter. He just was so open and honest, no matter what dumb thing came out of his mouth! In Mark's gospel Jesus has just made one of the most remarkable declarations in Scripture - that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.

But just as Jesus is telling his guys what it really means to be Messiah - that he will be murdered but rise from the dead - Peter pulls him aside to correct him a little.

Mark 8:32 "And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."

Now while I don't think that Jesus was calling Peter Satan I think that Satan's way would have been to short circuit the real work of the Messiah in order to keep men like Peter from being regenerated.

My point today though is to ask ourselves: do you ever get the urge when God speaks something into your life through his word or that still small voice to correct the Lord a little? "God you can't really mean to give sacrificially to your work" or "Lord you don't want me to humble myself before this low life person and ask for their forgiveness, do you?"

God will never ask us to do anything that goes against his character or his word but he will ask us to do things that make us uncomfortable and will push us well beyond our limits. When you get the urge to pull God aside and tell him to mellow out, just think of Peter and make sure you have in mind God's plan, not yours!

Pastor Tom