Being Rebuked

N.T.#379 "Being Rebuked"

August 30, 2024 

Mark 8-Part 8

LET IT GLOW 

After Peter proclaimed Jesus to be the Christ (Messiah), Jesus shared that He must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, then killed, and rise after 3 days, Peter rebuked Jesus. 

Rebuke means charge; forbid; cast. 

Matthew tells us what Peter said, Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee. (16:22)

"Have mercy on yourself "is what that literally means. This concept of Jesus' suffering was foreign to the disciples. (Farwell) 

Peter wasn't considering God's purposes, but only his own natural human desires and feelings. Peter wanted Christ to be king, but not the suffering servant prophesied in Isaiah 53. He was ready to receive the glory of following the Messiah, but not the persecution. (Life Application Study Bible)

Jesus' sufferings and death were inevitable because they were divinely ordained. (Acts 2, 4,28) Humanly speaking, it was caused by His rejection by the Jewish leaders. It was all so incomprehensible that the disciples were so slow to understand.

The Christian life is not a paved road to wealth and ease. It often involves hard work, persecution, deprivation, and deep suffering. Peter saw only part of the picture. We often encounter such things in our life when we stand up for Jesus and His Word against sin. We should focus on the good that God can bring out of apparent evil, and His Resurrection that followed the Crucifixion.

LET IT GROW 

the disciples loved their friend Jesus. It was natural that they did not want anything to happen to Him. However, Jesus was on a mission and had to fulfill the Father's will.

What was Jesus' response? Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. (verse 33)

Savourest means regard; think.

Satan had tempted Jesus to avoid the way of the cross. (Matthew 4) The disciples' purpose was not to protect Him, but to follow Jesus. They did not fully understand why Jesus had to die until it happened, and He arose. From then on, Jesus continued to teach of His death to come.

Has Jesus ever rebuked you? We know it when it happens. Sometimes He uses others to rebuke us and help us get back on the right road. Often I am a slow learner.

LET IT GO 

Help us surrender when rebuke comes, Lord, and learn the lesson You have for us to learn.

Thank You for forgiveness.