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When His disciples confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God (Matthew 16:13-16), Jesus started telling them that the plan was for Him to suffer and die and be raised again (Matthew 16:21). Peter objected. Jesus responded in what might appear a schizophrenic way.

"Get behind Me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." (Matthew 16:23)

It might seem to be confused because He told Peter "Get behind Me, Satan." Now, we know Peter was not Satan, so what was He saying? The term was Σατανᾶς -- satanas -- most literally "the accuser" or the adversary. Either Peter was being influenced by Satan himself, or, at the very least, Peter was responding as Satan would. What, then, did Jesus see that clued Him into the adversarial response of Peter? I mean, Peter appeared to be defending Jesus. "This shall never happen to You," he said (Matthew 16:22). That was an adversary? Jesus characterized the work of a Satan, be it a human or a human influenced by Satan, this way. "You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." There you have the primary scheme of Satan.

We do it all the time. All of us, at least some of the time. I heard it the other day in church. "Jesus's primary motivation," one nice lady told us, "was compassion for people." Now, it is true that Jesus had compassion for people, but that was not His primary motivation. "My Father's business" was Jesus's primary concern (Luke 2:49). "The will of My Father" was His primary concern (e.g. Matthew 7:21; Matthew 12:50; Matthew 18:14; Matthew 26:39) Honoring His Father was at the forefront of His thoughts (John 8:49). Doing the work of His Father was His life's ambition (John 10:37). Jesus's High Priestly prayer began with "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You." (John 17:1) Glorifying His Father was Jesus's highest passion (John 12:28). And, yet, we're all pretty sure that we are His highest concern. "You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."

We see it all the time. Self-identified Christians will start their reasoning with "Man is important here" and proceed to conclusions like "God cannot be absolutely sovereign" or "God cannot be Omniscient" or "God's highest calling is for us to feed the poor" or "save the planet" or whatever other "social justice" cause they deem important. Every time it appears to be a twist, not setting their minds on the things of God, but on the things of man.

We do it ourselves. Unpleasant things happen and we rail against God for being unfair because bad things shouldn't happen to good people. We don't get that job or we come down with cancer or we lose a loved one and God has failed us because we don't deserve that. We are not setting our minds on the things of God, but on the things of man.

It's a key clue. Is it of God or is it of Satan? Ask yourself if it is amplifying man and diminishing God. Ask yourself if the primary consideration is man or God. John the Baptist said, "He must increase and I must decrease." (John 3:30) That is the kind of thinking we must employ. That is the thinking that runs counter to Satan's scheme. But, be sure of this. That kind of thinking is not natural. It's supernatural.

"Point of Reference" from Fred Price

Counting the Cost and Bearing the Cross