50 Get Behind Me Satan

Get behind me Satan! My high school drama teacher said to me once in jest at my youthful antics. It makes a good story so I remember it, but reading it now in preparation for a kids lesson, a new light is shed on this statement. Jesus speaks plainly to his disciples. Telling them of what was to come in Jerusalem. He was to suffer and die. Peter took him aside and said surely such things would not happen. To Peter such things would be loss, would be the end, would mean defeat, and Jesus harsh rebuke is an interesting one. You are a dangerous trap He says and this contrast is one I now see with new eyes. A dangerous trap indeed, that we are currently stuck in. Surely nothing bad will happen to us as we follow Jesus in the way He asks... What a lie this is. We avoid the bad part of town because it is a risk to our safety. We give only out of surplus, trusting only to our own strength to provide for our needs. We reject the notion of serving in a place of lesser importance or in a way that might hurt our self esteem. We pray for safety because it is what we cherish and place on our altars. Jesus knew what was to come and yet He pressed on. When someone tried to convince Him that such hardship would not happen He rebuked the evil in this lie told by Satan. We are not promised a life of ease, free from difficulty. The things we own are not our own, the lives of our families are not really ours even to protect, our very existence is given up as a tool to build God's kingdom. We give this gift freely, but also a little recklessly to a God that is good, that is wise beyond our understanding and imagination, and that rewards the most richly of all.