Day 141 “Everyone benefits from Christ's death and resurrection, only satan benefits when it is forgotten."

Day 141 Matthew 16:21-23 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Peter's failure should serve as a great reminder of how quickly we can lose sight of things. One minute he seems to be the only one in the room on track with Jesus, and in the next moment he couldn't be further off track. The boundaries of the human mind, while they should be ever so evident to each of us, are all too often forgotten. Our tendencies are to think more along the lines of how brilliant the human mind is when, in reality, it is no bigger than the box God designed to hold it. The mission of Jesus, His purpose on this earth and in the heavenlies, was to become the ultimate sacrifice for mankind and then to defeat death by His resurrection, all of which would make little sense to mankind–a scene we see played out in this passage. Yet Christ, Himself, knew that without this selfless act of willful obedience, mankind had no hope. The severity and seriousness of this is evident in His response to Peter. After all, who is the only one who would benefit from Jesus rejecting the cross? If you said satan, you are, of course, correct. He is the only one of this world and the one we cannot see who would benefit from Christ denying His rightful place upon the cross, and Jesus knew it. Some would ask, "Why was Jesus so harsh?" The answer: "Because there was and is nothing more serious than the eternal destiny of mankind!” Serious issues require a serious response; this was no time to pander or worry about hurting feelings, it was time to bring to reality what lay ahead, and Jesus did just that. The same challenge could be faced by each one of us today. Is there anything we will face today that is more important than the eternal destiny of mankind? The answer, of course, is no; however, the most petty and meaningless issues of our world can and will prevent us from doing what truly is the most important, especially if we don't plan and pray to fulfill that which God has called us to do. Daily Prayer: Father, I ask that today and every day You would help me to have an eternal perspective, to not get caught up in the trivial nature of the things I face, and keep focused upon the seriousness of salvation and eternity. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. “Everyone benefits from Christ's death and resurrection, only satan benefits when it is forgotten." Pastor Gene Burroughs