Matthew 16:21-28 is a fascinating passage. Jesus had just told all his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem to suffer at the hands of the Jewish leaders, be killed, and be raised up on the third day (v21). Talk about a bomb going off! Jews as a whole- not just the the Pharisees- had the view that the Messiah was conqueror, not conquered. How could he die, therefore? This explains Peter’s exclamation and rebuke, ” “God forbid it, Lord!” ” (v22). He said it privately, too, “Peter took him aside” (v22).

Our friend Peter was very respectful- calling Jesus ‘Lord’, taking him aside. And he said, in principle, nothing that other Jews did not believe about the Messiah. Satan can be very concerned looking, very ‘well-meaning’ and respectful. Shockingly, Jesus identifies Peter with Satan! A ‘dedicated’ Jew, a follower of the Messiah, surely nothing evil could come out of his mouth. But it did- very evil! We are used to evil being some perverse comment, some monstrous deed. Here it is but a ‘few words’. Wasn’t that Satan’s way? Didn’t he ‘take aside’ Eve and speak to her? Did he not acknowledge God’s existence, and imply God’s authority? Wasn’t he very concerned and somewhat respectful? But the one thing Satan doesn’t want is obedience to God. The cross was the heart of obedience to God for the Christ. There was no other point to his obedience. It’s all about the cross, for this was God’s sole interest!

Our Lord didn’t spare Peter. There was no counseling, or word ‘on the side’. There was a direct, sharp, decisive, one-and-done, rebuke, a form of casting out of the demon, so to speak. Satan was put in his place and told to shut up! Very un-modern of Jesus. Super insensitive, cold, hard, and mean. Nasty! At least, that’s what modern Christians think when another believer uses strong words to reject heresy and attacks on the cross. Today we tolerate in the name of love all kinds of un-Christlike thoughts of the cross. A ‘Christian’ theologian/disciple can literally say that Jesus’ death on the cross was not the taking away of sin (John 1:29, 36), but an example of love for us to follow. There was no ‘ransom’ involved (Matt.20:28). Jesus went to the cross to be, what, merely a brilliant example? Next time you hear some ‘disciple’ dissing the cross, rejecting or weakening its relevance, changing its purpose, speak up and rebuke him/her. They are not ‘mislead’, ‘misinformed’, need prayer and bible study, require counseling or any other remedy. Rebuke is the only way to deal with this form of Satanic babble! If we undermine the cross, we reject Jesus’ purpose on earth, we attack God’s interest, we discard our salvation. Why would we, even for a moment, tolerate this nonsense from disciples of the Lord?