Like many other people in the Jewish nation, Peter believed that Jesus Christ was indeed the Son of God yet understood little of His earthly mission. So long had the nation waited for the Messiah that everyone had their own fabricated idea of what the Messiah would be like. Finally, Jesus had to reveal to His disciples the blood-stained path that He should take. No mind was ready to receive such news, not especially that of Peter. The hope of ending the rule of the Romans and of taking over the throne of David was shattered upon hearing that a cross awaited their Lord.
Matthew 16:22 Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
Peter’s emotions got in the way of accepting the truth as it came. He, like every other disciple, expected Jesus to reign as Prince. Deep in his mind, Jesus was yet to come out of this shell of poverty and not live in obscurity forever. His instinct raced to “protect” Jesus from this shameful path.
Is it possible that we may be doing the same today? Creating man-made traditions and laws in an attempt to protect God from sinners? I’m reminded of an incident, as narrated by one Pastor that took place in church a few years ago. In some of our churches in Africa, head covering for women is of utmost importance. It happened that, coming from a church that did not fuss about the issue, a woman came as a guest to preach in a different church without a covering. Unfortunately, this church was highly traditional and she was denied the podium. What rather escalated the situation was that one of the leaders, in the heat of the discussion, said “Not in my church, not on our podium!” A sad turn of events it was. I believe that the leader in his heart was trying to protect God from what he perceived as an abomination. He like Peter figured “It cannot happen to You, Lord.”
Peter confined Jesus into a little box in his thoughts and felt the need to protect Him from sin and sinners. So do we! God does not align Himself to our little thoughts of what can or cannot happen; instead we ought to align ourselves to His will. It was the will of God, from the foundation of the earth to give up His only begotten Son and no human thoughts were to disturb that well-thought plan.
In diverse ways today, like Peter, we seek to protect God, forgetting that He is the One to save and protect us even from ourselves. We can never help God; He is too powerful to need our feeble hands. Our desires and imaginations of how things should unfold can be detrimental even to our salvation. That is why we cannot protect God from His will, we need it. True faith in Jesus as the Messiah requires accepting the perfect will of God, even if it leads us into the woods.
In His Presence 