Peter's Rebuke of Christ — John Murray

Let us pray. O Thou eternal and ever-blessed God, from everlasting to everlasting God, who dwellest in light that is unapproachable and full of glory, who art holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, whose glory fills the whole earth, may we draw near unto Thee with that reverence and godly fear without which our professed approach unto Thee is but mockery and an abomination in Thy sight.

Blessed forever be Thy great and holy name, that though Thou dwellest in the high and the lofty place, Thou dost condescend to dwell with him also that is poor and of a contrite spirit, who trembles at Thy word.

And O grant unto us that as we come here into the place where Thou in honor dwells, into the place that can properly be called Sion, of which Thou hast said, this is my resting place forever. Here will I dwell for I have desired it.

O grant that we may find in this place Thy manifested presence, Thy presence manifested by the Holy Spirit, through Thy holy word, and Thy presence manifested in the face of Thine own Son Jesus Christ the Lord, that we may behold His glory, the glorious of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, that we may come to admire Him, come to adore Him in that identity that is His as the Son of the living God, as the brightness of Thy glory and the express image of Thy being, who when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty of Thy.

And O grant unto us that we may have that true conviction of sin in its gravity, in its guilt, in its defilement, and in its power, so that the gospel of Thy redeeming grace may be precious unto us, and that Christ may be precious unto us, as the one who came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

O may the light of the knowledge of Thy glory in the face of Jesus Christ shine into our hearts, and may we by that glory be so transformed that we shall have in our own consciences the assurance that we are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, having the sealing witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

O grant this inestimable grace unto us, and therefore also have the outreach of hope that as heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, we wait for Him, for His glorious appearing, when He shall be manifested in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory, and when He will come to be made manifest in His face, and to be admired in all them that believe.

Bless, O Lord, all Thy people. Bless them in their affliction. Bless them in their doubts and fears, and grant that these may be dispelled by the power of Thy grace, so that they may be able to rejoice with confidence that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus their Lord.

O grant that Thy church might be built up, that there may be added unto the church daily such as are being saved, that in the desolation that characterizes our time, in the apostasy that is so rampant, O let the gospel go forth with its power, with its regenerating, sanctifying, converting power, bringing sinners from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.

And grant, O Lord, that this church may be instrumental in this community of bearing a consistent and faithful and effectual witness to the end that Thy great name may be honored, that the gospel may be proclaimed in purity and fullness and power, and that multitudes may be drawn irresistibly by the Holy Spirit into the fellowship of Christ and into the fellowship of Thy people.

Bless us now as we wait upon Thee, and may we have Thy presence and Thy blessing. For Jesus' sake, Amen. The gospel according to Matthew chapter 16, after verse 22, we read,. Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee.

Christ’s Rebuke of Peter and the Contradiction of Sin

But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan! Thou art an offence unto me, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. It was sin that brought contradiction into this universe.

If there had been no sin, there would be no contradiction, and no occasion for contradiction, for everything would have been after the pattern of that perfection that God, that characterized God's handiwork when He created it.

Though this contradiction is the contradiction between good and evil, between truth and the lie, between love and hate, between mercy and judgment, between justice and injustice, and this contradiction began with the sin of the devil and his angels, and the sin of the devil and his angels preceded the sin of the human race.

Because this contradiction appeared first of all on the scene of this world, when the serpent, as the instrument of the devil, said to the woman first, by way of insinuating doubt, Yea, hath God said, Thou shalt not eat of every tree of the garden.

And then it appeared in blatant contradiction when the serpent said, Thou shalt not surely die, for God does know that in the day you eat thereof your eyes will be opened, and you shall be as God knowing good and evil.

You see how sin appeared in the contradiction of God, and it entered into the human race when the woman acceded to that contradiction, and believed the tempter rather than God. Now this is the essence of sin, the contradiction of God.

It is implied, of course, in that definition that is given of sin in the scripture. Sin is transgression of the law. The law, of course, is the transcript of divine perfection, and it is therefore the transgression of that which is the transcript of divine perfection, and therefore the contradiction of God.

And because sin offers contradiction to God, God must offer contradiction to it, and that belongs to the very holiness, the perfection of his being, to offer contradiction to that which is the contradiction of himself.

Now this contradiction which sin offers to God appears in no text. We might not suspect it. But it appears in the very indictment that our Savior brought against Peter when he said, Thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

That is, thou mindest not. Thou hast concern for not the things of God, but the things that be of men. And that is what our first parents did when they fell at the beginning. They began to mind the things of the creature rather than of the Creator.

They became preoccupied with human things instead of being completely absorbed in the divine will. Now here is a question for us. What is the governing pattern of old thought? It is a question that each one of us must ask.

It is a question that the most sanctified of you must ask of yourself. What is your paramount interest? What is your paramount concern? Is it the things of God? Is it the interest of his glory, of his kingdom?

Is it the interest of his counsel? Or is the governing pattern of thought that which is dictated by our own imagination? Is the governing pattern of old thought that which is dictated by human things?

Or is it dictated by divine things, by the supreme interest, by God's glory and kingdom? This is a question that comes to me and it comes to you. And here, my friends, is after all a criterion by which we must interrogate our own consciences, our own hearts, and our own minds.

Do we mind the things of men or do we mind the things of God? You see, our Savior was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. There was no sin in him. And because there was no sin in him, he was completely governed by the things of God.

And it was just because of that contradiction that there was between himself and between sinful men that he brought the indictment against Peter, Thou mindest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Peter’s Noble Confession and Presumptuous Rebuke

Now, contradiction appears in this chapter in another way, or in other ways, and appears in most striking way, or most unbelievable way, contradiction. Peter had made the great confession to Sariaphilipi, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And there was the corresponding benediction, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And there is not only the corresponding benediction on Jesus' part, but there is also the corresponding investiture.

I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Just observe the elements of the situation.

The confession, the benediction, and the investiture. And then what a contrast. A very short time after, Peter began to rebuke Jesus, rebuked the person whom he had confessed a very brief period, a very brief time before then.

Began to rebuke the person whom he had confessed, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And when he confessed him as the Son of the living God, he confessed him in his divine identity as equal with God, and as himself God.

And is it possible, you might say, that in a very brief period of time, Peter began to rebuke, to rebuke the Savior? Be it far from thee, this shall not be unto thee. Presumptuous rebuke. You have the corresponding response on the part of the Savior.

And what a contradiction between the benediction that Jesus had uttered a little before then, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, and now get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto me, because thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

So you see, these two elements we may focus attention upon for a little while. First, the contrast in the case of Peter, between noble confession and presumptuous rebuke. And then second, the contrast between Jesus' benediction, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, and the devastating reprimand, get thee behind me, Satan.

What a stumbling block. And then first of all, you have the contrast or the contradiction in the case of Peter, between confession and presumptuous rebuke. It might seem impossible for Peter to entertain such contradictory sentiments, and remember they weren't separated by a long period of time.

Because we read in this chapter, you see, after the great confession of Peter of Tiszareus at Philippi, from that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed.

Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him. So there was not much of an interval. And we might think it impossible for Peter to entertain such contradictory sentiment within such a brief period of time.

And then there is even the more staggering, the staggering question or apparent impossibility, the different sources from which Peter derived his inspiration. When he said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, it was from God the Father that he was inspired and actuated.

And when he said, This shall not be unto thee, it was from Satan he was inspired and actuated. And could there be within such a brief period of time the inspiration and the actuation of such diverse sources?

God the Father, in all his immaculate holiness and majesty of Satan, in all his unspeakable malignity and iniquity. It's well for us to consider this. And I fear that my limitations are such that I cannot elicit from this, or even by way of exposition or by way of suggestion all that is involved in it.

But I shall, I don't think it's useless to mention a few lessons that we should derive from this. The contradiction in the case of Peter between holy compassion and iniquitous rebuke. And the first lesson is this, that in the people of God, and Peter was a man of God, in the people of God there is the morally and the religiously contradictory.

And that's the explanation of it. That's the only explanation of this apparent impossibility that there is even in the people of God the morally and religiously contradictory. And because there is in them that which is morally and religiously contradictory, you have, can have contradictory sentiment.

You can have contradictory actions. And you can have contradictory sources of inspiration and instigation. It is for our warning and also for our consolation that the apostle Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to give us his own autobiography.

The Believer’s Inner Conflict in Romans 7

And you find it in Romans 7, 14 through 25. I say warning and also consolation. What does the apostle say? I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is peasant with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.

I live light in the law of God after the inward man, but I find another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this dead?

And even in the final word of that autobiography is placed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit on record, so then with the mind I myself heard the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. There is the explanation of Peter's contradiction.

And the apostle Paul has given us in very brief summary his own autobiography of this contradiction. For our warning, but also for our consolation, that when we find this contradiction in the people of God, and when we find it in ourselves, we must remember that it is a necessity arising from the fact that there is a two-fold law in our members, and they're warring against each other.

Testing Noble Motives by the Revealed Will of God

But a second lesson is this, that Peter on this occasion when he took our Lord aside apparently and began to rebuke him, was actuated by what he considered as very high and noble and worthy motive. To a certain extent he was actuated by love for Australia, and as far as he was concerned he was actuated by what he considered to be the highest and noblest and worthiest motive.

And oh, what a warning. These very motives, however high and noble and worthy they were in the esteem of Peter himself, these very motives induced diabolical opposition to the counsel and will of God.

Think of it. Offered diabolical opposition to the highest wisdom, the highest counsel, the highest will of heaven. And he teaches us this great lesson, not to measure by our motives, but to test our motives by that which alone is perfect.

Revealed will of God, the law of God. Oh, what a lesson. We are so liable to think that because our motives appear to be worthy that we can resort to all sorts of methods by which to fulfill the design of these motives.

What a devastating indictment against the deceit of the human heart, the design of the heart of the people of God. Third lesson, that we may derive from this contradiction in the case of Peter is that we may attain, my beloved friends, to the summit of noblest confession and momentarily lapse into the deepest unfaithfulness.

Let us never put our confidence in past achievement. Let us never even put our confidence in the divine investiture which I offer. Peter attained to a great height of noble confession when he said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, with Jesus' corresponding benediction, and also Jesus' investiture.

I will give thee the keys, whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Of course, Peter was the spokesman of the apostles. Peter, when he received the benediction, received what belonged to all the apostles, except Judas.

And when Peter received the investiture, it wasn't for himself alone, but as the representative of the apostles. But what high office was accorded to these apostles. And here is the great lesson, that we may never trust in achievement of the past, and we may never trust even in God's investiture of us with high office, because our only refuge at any moment is complete reliance upon the grace and the wisdom and the power of God.

And whenever our thought gets focused upon even that which God, upon that benediction that God has bestowed upon us, and upon that very office with which He may have invested us in that very moment, the prey of the great archangel is when we are weak.

It is not a moment of all life in which that doesn't apply. You see how confident Peter was in his past achievements when he said, though all should deny thee, yet will not I. It was Peter that denied him with caution and strength.

What a lesson for us, that our reliance, moment by moment, to the all-sufficient great achievement has not even upon us invested. Now we come to the next contrast that appears in this chapter, the contrast in Jesus' responses.

Christ’s Faithful and Truthful Response to Peter

You might well say it's impossible, it's even impossible for this in the psychology of our Lord himself, for him to have given such benediction for Peter, and such investiture with Peter, and then such devastating reprimand.

Yet thee behind me Satan, thou art an offence unto me, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men, apparently impossible. And that apparent impossibility is only accentuated in our Lord's faith, because there was no sin in him.

There's an explanation of the contradiction in the case of Peter between noble compassion and dispunctuous reprimand, because there was in Peter that which was religiously and morally contradictory. How are we to explain this in the case of our Lord?

Well, there are one or two lessons here, and there's a grand jury. What is the first lesson? Well, it is just the lesson of our Lord's immaculate faith. It is the lesson of truth. He reacts to each situation in perfect equity, in faithfulness to truth, because he is the faithful witness.

And if our Lord had been, as it were, unduly sympathetic, if our Lord had refrained from giving this withering reprimand to Peter, there would have been a defect, because our Lord responded, reacted to each situation as truth, as faithfulness, demanded.

When he said to Peter, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood doth not revealed it unto thee, he was responding in a perfect manner to that which was the fruit of the Father's grace. And you could say it with all reverence, because this was the fruit of the Father's grace, he could not have but responded.

He could not have responded otherwise than with complacency and benignity. And Peter took him and began to rebuke him. He was instigated by Satan, and you see, his faithfulness demanded the corresponding rebuke, the corresponding condemnation, the corresponding reprimand.

And try to catch something, my beloved friends, of the grandeur, of the contrast in the case of our Lord. It is the contrast that faithfulness demands. And you can see it all along in the witness of our Lord, the contrast between blessing and curse.

You have it very eloquently inscribed in Luke 6 verses 20 to 24, a form in which our Lord's Sermon on the Mount is given in the Gospel according to Luke. And our Lord turns to his disciples and he says, Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God.

Blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh when you turn, uttered in what you might call the same breath. Woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation.

Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you, for so did their fathers for the false prophets.

You see the contrast, the contradiction, indeed, between blessing and woe. But that is what faithfulness demands, because faithfulness, in the case of Peter, blessed are those who are silent but sure, like Gethsemane, there is no compromise.

My friends, he will be that to you if you are his. There is another lesson here in this contrast that there is in the response of the Savior. How different was the attitude of our Lord to Peter, when Peter denied him in the palace of the high priest.

Peter’s Denial and Christ’s Compassion

Our Lord had warned Peter before the cockerel, and when Peter denied the Savior three times, he did it with courage. And for the difference between the loving look of God and the devastating retrimand, I think there is much here for our instruction.

And Peter denied his Lord. It was succumbing to temptation. It was succumbing on Peter's part. It was a temptation that was directed to Peter himself, and Peter succumbed. And our Lord looked upon him with bowels of tender compassion when Peter took him and began to rebuke him and said, This shall not be unto thee.

What was the temptation? You see, Peter was now the instrument of a plea directed to the Savior himself. He was the instrument of a plea that would have turned the Savior from the counsel and will of which he came into the world.

And that's the reason for the difference, the contrast, between the look of compassion in the palace of the high priest and the devastating retrimand on this occasion. For Jesus was now resisting with all the vehemence of righteousness on occasion with the temptation directed to him by Peter as the instrument of temptation to turn him aside from it.

But here, my friends, you have the grandeur of the Savior's commitment. He came down from heaven not to do his own will, but the will of Him that sent him. He said again, Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might see.

No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened until it be accomplished?

The Glory of Christ Revealed in His Obedience

And consequently the plea of this disciple whom he loved had to be resisted with all the vehemence of that devastating retrimand. Oh, it was a plea to turn aside from the highest counsel of God. There was to be no threat with such a plea.

Get thee hence, Satan. Thou art an offenser to me. Thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. And can you see, can you not see in this well-reflected plea, one always given to people, the role of this particular invite you to recognize in this particular instance a disclosure of the glory of Christ.

The Apostle Paul says, you know, that we beholding it, beholding it and at last the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory. Even as I said it, my friends, I say to you as I would first of all say to you, let us meditate prayer.

Let us meditate prayer. Let us meditate and persist on the revelation that is given to us in this scripture. Let us catch a new pattern of that revelation of glory. And as we catch new patterns, as we meditate prayerfully in dependence upon the enlightening of the Holy Spirit, we catch these new patterns.

Oh, for that is the great destination of the people of God, that they shall be conformed to the image, perhaps in an unsuspecting way, of redeemment of the actions, the different response to the actions.

How do thou grant that Christ may be precious to us, that we may see, that we may get a glimpse of that which is being asked of us, of that which is answered, that surpassing excellency of him who came forth from the Father, who came into the world, who is the brightness of the Father's glory, who is the image of the invisible God.

Let us therefore be transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we may prove what is that good Jesus name. Amen.