Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 8:33
But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
33. when he had turned about and looked on his disciples ] Observe the graphic touches of St Mark. The Apostle who had restrained the Evangelist from preserving the record of that which redounded to his highest honour, suppresses the record neither of his own mistaken zeal, nor of the terrible rebuke it called forth.
Get thee behind me ] The very words which He had used to the Tempter in the wilderness (Mat 4:10), for in truth the Apostle was adopting the very argument which the great Enemy had adopted there.
thou savourest not ] Thou art thinking of, thy thoughts centre on. This rendering of the Greek word for “ to think ” is suggested by the Latin sapere, which is found in the Vulgate and retained from Wyclif’s Version. It is derived directly from the substantive savour, Fr. saveur, Lat. sapor, from sapere. Thus Latimer quoting 1Co 13:11 writes, “When I was a child I savoured as a child.” “In confusion of them that so saveren earthely thinges.” Chaucer, Parson’s Tale. “Thy words shew,” our Lord would say to the Apostle, “that in these things thou enterest not into the thoughts and plans of God, but considerest all things only from the ideas of men. This attempt of thine to dissuade Me from My ‘baptism of death’ is a sin against the purposes of God.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mar 8:31; Mar 8:33
That the Son of Man must suffer many things.
The rebuke of love
Let us not overlook this loving rebuke; for
(1) it cures Peters presumption;
(2) sets him to learn a new lesson on the heavenliness of sacrifice;
(3) prevents the greatness of his faith being spoiled by the earthliness of his hopes.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend: but the wounds which the Saviour inflicts are kindest of all. From Peters weakness let us learn how hard it is to see all truth at once. From Christs rebuke let us learn that the heavenly thing is not to seek for glory, but for usefulness, even if we can reach it only through a cross. (R. Glover.)
Peter rebuked Christ and Christ rebuked Peter-an altercation of more than mere words
It is charged with practical truths.
1. Mans shortsightedness.
2. Mans sentiment exaggerated.
3. Mans audacity to think he can help or save Christ.
On Christs side:
1. He rebukes the oldest.
2. He rebukes the wisest-it was Peter who said, Thou art the Christ.
3. He shows that men are only worthy of Him in proportion as they enter into His spirit. (Dr. Parker.)
Christs intimation of His sufferings
I. What there is to mark the time which our blessed Saviour thus selected, for giving prominence to a new and unwelcome subject of discourse. In the third year of His public ministry. Up to this time our Lord left the great truth of His Godhead to work its way rote the minds of His apostles. Now they had arrived at the conviction that He was none other than the ever-living God. What inducement led to, and what instruction may be gathered from, the recorded fact, that when Jesus had drawn from His disciples the acknowledgment of His Divinity, then, and not before, He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. Now the apostles could have had none but the most indistinct apprehensions of the office and mission of our Lord, so long as they were ignorant of the death which He had undertaken to die. This made it appear remarkable, that our Lord should so long have withheld the express mention of His sufferings, As much as to say, It will be of no avail to speak to them of My death till they are convinced of My Deity. So long as they only know Me as the Son of Man, they will not be prepared to hear of the cross; when they shall also know Me as the Son of the living God, then will be the time to tell of ignominy and death. Oh, how strange, you may exclaim, that the moment of discovering a Divine person in the form of a man should be the right moment for the being informed that this person should be crucified! To discover a Divine person is to discover what death cannot touch; and yet Christ waited till this discovery in regard of Himself, that He might then expressly mention His approaching dissolution. But do you not observe, my brethren, what a testimony our Lord hereby gives to the fact, that the truth of His Godhead alone explains-alone gives meaning or worth to-His having died on the cross? He will say nothing of His death whilst only believed to be man; He speaks continually of His death, when once acknowledged as God. Are we not taught by this, that they only who believe Christ Divine, can put the right construction on the mystery of His death, or so survey it as to draw from it what it was intended to teach? Then we perceive, that He must have died as a sacrifice; then we understand that He must have died as an atonement to be the propitiation for our sins, to reconcile the world unto God. He could not have died for such ends had He been only man; but being also God, such ends could be answered and effected by His death, though nothing less, so far as we can tell, could have sufficed. Therefore, again and again, we say, Christs Divinity is the explanation of Christs death. We seem quite justified in gathering from the text, that hence forward our Lord made very frequent mention of His cross. If you examine, you will find so many as nine instances spoken of by the evangelists; though it was a topic which He had not before introduced. And what is very observable is, that it seems to have been upon occasions when the disciples were likely to have been puffed up and exalted, that ever after our Lord took special pains to impress upon them that He must be rejected and killed. Ah! my brethren, ought we not to learn from this keeping the cross out of sight till faith had grown strong and high privilege been imparted, that it is the advanced Christian who has need of persecution; and that grace, in place of exempting us from, is to fit us for trial? The disciples must have well known that if suffering were to be their Masters lot, it would also be theirs. If, then and thence, Jesus spake of afflictions which should befall Himself, He must have been understood as likewise speaking of afflictions which would befall His apostles; and He abstained, you see, from dwelling on the tribulation which would be the path to His kingdom, till He found His followers strong in belief of His actual Divinity. And then take one more lesson from the peculiarity of the occasions on which, as we bays shown you, Christ made a special point of introducing the mention of His sufferings; occasions on which the disciples were in danger of being puffed up and exalted. Learn to expect, and be thankful for, something bitter in the cup, when faith has won the victory, and you have tasted, in no common measure, the powers of the invisible world. You may say, however, that it militates against much that we have advanced, that in point of fact, Christs mentioning His sufferings at the time when He did, produced not on the disciples the effect which our statement supposes. We have but too good proof, that though our Lord deferred so long as He did speaking of His sufferings, the apostles were still unprepared for the saying, and could neither understand it nor receive it. Even St. Peter, who had just made the noble confession which proved him ready and willing to hear tidings from Christ, no sooner hears of his Saviour being rejected and killed, than he begins presumptuously to rebuke Him; saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee. Yet let it not be thought that Christ chose an unseasonable time, or tried an unsuitable means. The medicine may be what we want; but we, alas! may reject it, as not being what we like. The ease may be precisely such, that from that time forth, it is wholesome that we be admonished of appointed tribulation. We may only the more prove how the admonition is needed, by treating it with dislike, and trying to disbelieve it. When we find that there was such repugnance in St. Peter and his brethren to the cross, though Christ had waited so patiently for the fittest time to introduce it, we ought to learn the difficulty of taking part with the suffering Saviour, and submitting ourselves meekly, and thankfully, to the scorn and the trial of sharing His afflictions. And this lesson from mans aversion to, and how much more the bearing of, the cross, should bring home to us with great force, our need of being continually disciplined by the Spirit of God. And yet it is not to pure and unmingled sorrow, that Christ would consign the more faithful in His Church. As St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. How beautiful is it in our text, that if Jesus then began to tell His disciples how He should die, He then began also to tell them how He should rise again from the dead. It is our unbelief, or our impatience, which makes us overlook the one statement in our eagerness to get rid of the other. If God lead you into the wilderness, it is, as He saith by the prophet Hosea, that there He may speak comfortably to you, giving you vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
But when he had turned about,…. Upon Peter, and showed quick resentment at what he said:
and looked on his disciples; he cast his eye toward, them at the same time, and expressed to them the same displeasure in his countenance, they being of the same mind:
he rebuked Peter, saying, get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God; things which were according to the will of God, as the sufferings of Christ were: they were according to the determinate counsel of his will; what he had determined in his purposes and council should be; and what he had declared in the Scriptures of truth, the revelation of his will, would be; and in which, according to them, he should have a great concern himself, Isa 53:6, and whereby all his divine perfections would be glorified, and therefore may well be said to be the things of God; and which ought to be savoured, minded, and attended to, as things of the greatest moment and importance: and which, though the apostle had often read of in the books of the Old Testament; yet either had not a clear understanding of them, as being the will of God; or however, they were greatly out of his view at this time, his mind being possessed with notions of a temporal kingdom, and of worldly honour and grandeur: wherefore it follows,
but the things that be of men; as were the notions of Christ’s being a temporal prince, that would set up a worldly kingdom, and deliver the Jews from the Roman yoke, and make his subjects happy, with an affluence of all worldly things; and particularly his favourites, as the disciples were: these were schemes of men’s devising, and were suited to the corrupt nature, and carnal inclinations of men; and these things at present too much possessed Peter’s mind: wherefore the Lord rebuked him in a very severe, though just manner; being touched in his most tender part, and dissuaded from that which his heart was set upon, and he came into the world for; whose keen resentment is seen by using a phrase he never did but to the devil himself, Mt 4:10;
[See comments on Mt 16:23].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He turning about and seeing his disciples ( ). Peter had called Jesus off to himself (), but Jesus quickly wheeled round on Peter (, only in Matthew). In doing that the other disciples were in plain view also (this touch only in Mark). Hence Jesus rebukes Peter in the full presence of the whole group. Peter no doubt felt that it was his duty as a leader of the Twelve to remonstrate with the Master for this pessimistic utterance (Swete). It is even possible that the others shared Peter’s views and were watching the effect of his daring rebuke of Jesus. It was more than mere officiousness on the part of Peter. He had not risen above the level of ordinary men and deserves the name of Satan whose role he was now acting. It was withering, but it was needed. The temptation of the devil on the mountain was here offered by Peter. It was Satan over again. See on Mt 16:23.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “But when He had turned about,” (ho de epistrapheis) “Then He turned about,” from one direction to the other, for the benefit of all the other disciples, who were likely trying to overhear the conversation anyway.
2) “And looked on His disciples,” (kai edon tous mathetas autou) “And looking on His disciples,” observing them, realizing they were watching and listening and needed to hear clearly what He had to say regarding this matter.
3) “He rebuked Peter, saying,” (epetimesen Petro kai legei) “He sharply reproved, corrected Peter, saying;” Very clearly, so that all could hear, a spirit later expressed by Paul, “them that sin openly, rebuke openly, that others also may fear,” 1Ti 5:20.
4) ”Get thee behind me, Satan:- (hupage opiso mau satana) “Go (get) behind me, Satan,” slanderer, scandalizer, or as one who is serving the devil, Mat 16:23.
5) “For thou savourest not the things that be of God,” (hoti ou phroneis ta tou theou) ”Because you do not mind (even mentally grasp) the things of God,” Tit 1:13, relating to the four things I have foretold you, Mar 8:31, Joh 18:10-11; Gal 1:8.
6) “But the things that be of men.” (alla ta ton anthropon) “But the kind of things relating to men,” apart from the mind and will of God; He thus reminded His disciples that they must not be carried away by human feelings, from acceptance of Divinely related facts, such as how He must 1) suffer, 2) be rejected, 3) be slain, and 4) rise again on, or after the third day, Mar 8:31.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
‘But he, turning about and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and says, “You get behind me, Satan, for you are not minding the things of God but the things of men.” ’
Peter’s words would immediately remind Jesus of another who had sought to turn Him aside from the way of suffering when He was tempted in the wilderness (Mar 1:13). And at them Jesus turned round to check on the other disciples, probably to see if they had heard. And on seeing that they were aware of what Peter was doing He clearly felt that He had to put things right very firmly. They all looked up to Peter and it had to be made clear to them all that his present ideas were not only not reliable but in fact came from a very dangerous source. We should always consider people’s feelings, but there are times when a person’s feelings have to come second to the truth, especially when open error is involved. He had just commended Peter for spiritual insight, now He must make clear the dimness of his spiritual eyes.
‘You get behind me, Satan.’ This answer should come to us, as it came to them, as a distinct shock. Its impact must have been huge. Peter must have been shaken to the core, and the other disciples almost as much. To be openly called ‘Satan’ by the Master in front of all. And it was intended by Jesus to have this effect. Furthermore Mark intended it to stand there with all its impact, with no softening (as was attempted later in some authorities). Peter’s words were dangerous in the extreme. They went against the whole purposes of God, and had to be shown for what they were. As Jesus had to sternly tell him, God’s ways are not man’s ways and he must not presume to know the mind of God until He had fully absorbed the words of Jesus. His words were the truth and Peter (and the other disciples) must never forget it.
This brought out even more emphatically Jesus’ own consciousness, which we so easily assume, of the fact that He had come with a unique message as a unique person for a unique purpose. To go against His words was to behave as Satan. It was direct rebellion against God.
What Jesus was saying in a most uncompromising fashion was that Peter had become Satan’s instrument through a combination of self-conceit and worldly wisdom, and that as such he could have no part in Jesus. He must ‘get behind Him’. Only once he had come to his senses could he once more be accepted face to face.
The words carry an important lesson. How easily can the one who has things revealed to him by God become a dupe of Satan. Great privilege is dangerous when given to mortal men. Nothing is more important for men who seek to know God and as a result receive some illumination than to refuse to allow themselves to be influenced by their own extravagant ideas lest they expand on what God has shown them. They must beware lest after they have preached to others they themselves become disapproved, ‘rejected after testing’ (1Co 9:27). There is only one safeguard against this. And that is to subject themselves thoroughly to God’s revelation through His word and to allow other godly men to judge them (1Co 14:29). Those who are sure that they are always right are always wrong.
And that is what had happened to Peter. He had become a dupe of Satan. But how fortunate for him that he had there the One Who could immediately put him right. Jesus had already faced up to and conquered the temptation to take the easy way, to avoid suffering, and He had no hesitation as to what should be done with such suggestions as Peter’s. They had to be put behind Him, out of sight and out of mind. And their source had to be made clear. His words here to Peter are similar to His words to Satan in Mat 4:10, ‘hupage — Satana’.
We must not soften the situation by suggesting that Jesus was actually addressing Satan. He was addressing one who had allowed himself through folly, and pride, and carelessness, to become Satan’s messenger. The words that follow are not directed at Satan but at Peter.
‘You are not minding the things of God but the things of men.’ The word translated ‘mind’ means ‘to think’, ‘to form or hold an opinion’, ‘to make a judgment’, and can mean ‘to have the same thoughts as’ (Php 2:5). It could involve taking someone’s side, espousing someone’s cause. And that seems to be what is in mind here. Peter is unconsciously siding with men confused by Satan, and not with God. One moment he had almost seemed to know the truth, and the next He was blind to the truth. His spiritual sight was seen to be both limited and partial. But the final point behind this is that men think differently from God, because they see everything from a different perspective. That is why man never really understands the ways of God, and must take them on trust. It is only God Who really understands why the way of salvation that He chose was so necessary. ‘How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out’ (Rom 11:33).
But we miss the point of the whole episode if we stop there. This incident was so startling that it must have burned itself into the minds of His disciples, and that was Jesus’ intention. It should have made them recognise that they were totally wrong about their expectations (although not completely succeeding – Mar 10:35-40), and that they should always be wary in future about what they said to Jesus, and also about what they said about Him. His hope was that they would never be too loose in their thinking again (although of course still baffled and misled by their own thoughts).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
Ver. 33. See Trapp on “ Mat 16:22 “ See Trapp on “ Mat 16:23 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mar 8:33 . : the compound instead of the simple verb in Mt., which Mk. does not use. . .: the rebuke is administered for the benefit of all, not merely to put down Peter. This resistance to the cross must be grappled with at once and decisively. What Peter said, all felt . In Mk.’s report of the rebuke the words are omitted. On the saying vide in Mt.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
looked, &c. = saw (App-133.) His disciples, who might easily have been ledastray by Peter’s remonstrance.
Get thee behind, &c. Compare Mat 4:10, regarding it as a Satanic temptation.
savourest = mindest.
God. App-98.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
[33. , His disciples) who might have been very quickly carried away by Peters objection, so as to embrace views merely human.-V. g.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
thou savourest
i.e. thou art thinking man’s thoughts, not the thoughts of God. Contra, Mat 16:17
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
turned: Mar 3:5, Mar 3:34, Luk 22:61
he rebuked: Lev 19:17, 2Sa 19:22, Psa 141:5, Pro 9:8, Pro 9:9, Mat 15:23, Luk 9:55, 1Ti 5:20, Tit 1:13, Rev 3:19
Get: Gen 3:4-6, Job 2:10, Mat 4:10, Luk 4:8, 1Co 5:5
savourest: Mat 6:31, Mat 6:32, Rom 8:5-8, Phi 3:19,*Gr: Jam 3:15-18, 1Pe 4:1, 1Jo 2:15
Reciprocal: Mat 16:23 – Get Mar 9:32 – were Mar 10:14 – he was Luk 9:45 – General Joh 21:19 – Follow
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE GREAT REBUKE
Get thee behind Me, Satan.
Mar 8:33
We see St. Peter who had just witnessed so noble a confession, presuming to rebuke his Master because He spoke of suffering and dying. We see him drawing down on himself the sharpest rebuke which ever fell from our Lords lips.
We have here a humbling proof that the best of saints is a poor fallible creature.
I. Here was ignorance.St. Peter did not understand the necessity of our Lords death, and would have actually prevented His sacrifice on the Cross.
II. Here was self-conceit.St. Peter thought he knew what was right and fitting for His Master better than his Master Himself, and actually undertook to show the Messiah a more excellent way.
III. Here was zeal without knowledge.St. Peter did it all with the best intentions! He meant well. His motives were pure. But zeal and earnestness are no excuse for error. A man may mean well and yet fall into tremendous mistakes.
Let us learn humility from the facts here recorded. We see that it is but a little step from making a good confession to being a Satan in Christs way. Let us pray daily: Hold Thou me up; keep me, teach me, let me not err.
Illustrations
(1) Hinder me not, still to the last,
The faithful heart will say;
I must be striving, pressing on,
And work while it is day.
(2) The words of St. Peter were a snare and suggestion of Satan, tempting the devoted Saviour to avoid the sufferings and death by which it was Gods will that we should be healed. Satan it is, our adversary the devil, who continually to us also holds out the inconvenience and irksomeness of obedience. He it is who, on the other hand, suggests the pleasure of sin, its ease, its pretended safety.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
3
Satan accomplished his purpose in the garden by contradicting the saying of God. Peter contradicted the statement of Jesus and hence he called him by that name. Savourest means to be interested in a thing, and Jesus meant that Peter was interested in a temporal kingdom instead of the spiritual kingdom of God.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 8:33. And seeing his disciples. This look, mentioned by Mark only, shows that Peter had not taken Him aside, but laid hold on Him to interrupt Him. Luke omits altogether the rebuke of Peter.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 33
Get thee behind me, Satan; a strong expression of disapproval.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
8:33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou {h} savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
(h) This is not godly, but worldly wisdom.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus spoke His rebuke for the other disciples as well as for Peter. This indicates that Peter was speaking for them. Jesus called Peter Satan because He recognized Satan as the ultimate source of Peter’s suggestion (cf. Mat 4:10). Peter’s words had opposed God’s will in favor of the popular messianic idea.