Jesus Rebukes Satan

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 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.”

It is most interesting what Jonathan Edwards wrote about this portion of scripture in his “Blank Bible.”

We are not to understand it that Christ here calls Peter “Satan.” No. Christ speaks to Satan, that he saw had a hand in this matter, and that influenced Peter thus to think and speak. He speaks to Peter’s indwelling sin, which was as it were the devil in Peter. It was not an instance of Christ’s severity towards Peter that he thus speaks, but his love and grace that he would not impute what Peter says to himself, but to Satan. He graciously makes a distinction between his disciple Peter and his indwelling corruption. As Paul says, Rom. 7:20, “’Tis no more I, but sin that dwelleth in me.”