Creator, Father, King #197

You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.

AS SOON AS THE apostle Peter had reached a peak of his young faith, he tumbled down quickly.

In yesterday’s devotion, we learned about Peter’s great confession. Many people had wild ideas about Jesus’ true identity. But Peter nailed it: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Shortly after Peter’s confession, Jesus began telling his disciples plainly that he would suffer at the hands of the Jewish leaders, die, and then rise again. This sounded like nonsense to Peter. So he scolded Jesus. (Bad mistake!)

“Heaven forbid, Lord,” Peter exclaimed. “This will never happen to you!” (Matthew 16:22).

Jesus instantly rebuked Peter, attributing his impulsive friend’s words to a much more diabolical source: “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s” (Matthew 16:23).

What’s It Mean?

Peter, like most first-century Jews, expected a Messiah who would liberate Israel from Roman tyranny and reestablish them as a sovereign nation. Peter couldn’t fathom God’s promised Savior suffering the horrible torture, indignity, and divine curse associated with Roman crucifixion (Deuteronomy 21:23 and Galatians 3:13).

Peter, though, had forgotten the Old Testament messianic prophecies—or at least not applied them to Jesus. He was trying to fit God’s incredibly comprehensive plan of redemption into his tiny little box of human understanding. (Another mistake!)

We can learn a lot from Peter. If you’re not careful, your life experiences (family, friends, church, school, etc.) can easily shape how you view God, the Bible, and your faith overall. But this is backward thinking!

Don’t view spiritual matters solely through the tainted lens of your experiences and understanding. Don’t try to superimpose your inferior plans or understanding over God’s far greater design for your life—and the world. Your assumptions, preconceived notions, and sin will only blind you to God’s truth, as it did with Peter. Jesus, then, would offer this reminder: “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s” (today’s verse).

When you allow Scripture and the Holy Spirit to be your guides, you can build a God-glorifying framework for your life, instead of trying to apply a misinformed framework on Scripture!

Now What?

Read the account of Peter’s excited but incorrect answer in Matthew 16:21-23.

Did You Know?

Psalm 22; Isaiah 53; Zechariah 12:10; and Zechariah 13:7 all predicted that God’s Savior would be a suffering Messiah.