Not long before His death, Jesus told His apostles what would happen to Him. Matthew records, “From that time Jesus began to show 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 up on the third day” (Matthew 16:21).
However, at least one of the apostles did not think this should happen. “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You’” (Matthew 16:22).
Undoubtedly, Peter’s motive was good. He did not want Jesus to suffer the pain and death He said was coming. Yet Jesus rebuked Peter: “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s” (Matthew 16:23).
Though Peter may have been sincere, he was threatening to stand in the way of God’s plan. We can unwittingly be guilty of doing the same thing whenever we try to change God’s plan and do something different from what He said should be done in His word. As Jesus told Peter, doing this puts us on the side of the devil rather than on His side.
So set your mind on God’s interests. Even if following His will is difficult, His way is always better than what we think is best. Let us strive to carry out what God has instructed us in His word and encourage others to do the same.