And 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. ³² And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 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. ³⁴ And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ³⁵ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. ³⁶ For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:31-36 KJV)

For generations the children of Israel waited for a Messiah that would restore the glory days of the kingdom of Israel.  In the time of Yeshua the Messiah was thought to be another King David who, as a great warrior conquered the Philistines, established Jerusalem as the capital of the kingdom and set the stage for the glorious days of expansion under his son Solomon.  The Messiah was to be a warrior king who would drive out the Romans occupiers and reestablish Israel as a mighty and self ruled nation to be reckoned with.

After listening to Yeshua’s powerful teachings of love, forgiveness, justice, integrity of worship, and especially after having observed the numerous displays of power evidenced in the many miracles and healings, the disciples were convinced that Yeshua was indeed one sent by the Father to restore life in Israel.  Yeshua taught with power and authority.  Yeshua boldly challenged the religious oppression of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Priests.  Yeshua was gaining a following among the poor, the down trodden, the common people.  Clearly there was something different about this wandering, miracle working, prophet and rabbi from Nazareth.  One could only hope that Yeshua was indeed the fulfillment of what Israel was waiting for.

But when Yeshua prophesied of all that he must endure as the “Son of man” there was an emotional and intellectual disconnect between the words of Yeshua and the expectations of his disciples. The thought that Yeshua would be rejected by the religious establishment of Israel seemed like a foreign concept.  Surely the religious establishment was waiting for the coming of the Messiah and would welcome him with open arms.  That the warrior king and Messiah would be rejected by Israel’s religious establishment and killed, was so contrary to everything that the disciples believed that it could not possibly be true. 

Upon hearing, what for Peter was an absurd and utterly preposterous declaration, Peter rebuked his Master.  This was NOT what Israel was expecting.  This was NOT what Israel wanted.  This was NOT what Israel believed. This was NOT what Israel was hoping for. Cleary, as far as Peter, and most likely all of those standing with him, was concerned Yeshua was way out of line with this statement.

We have rushed to judgment on Peter for lashing out and rebuking the Master.  Clearly it was inappropriate for the disciple to rebuke his Master.  However, there is a much deeper issue at hand.  Let us take careful note that what Peter was rebuking the Master for.  Peter was rebuking Yeshua for his failure to comply with his and all Israel’s beliefs.  All Israel was waiting for the Messiah to come and restore Israel to power and glory.  All Israel was waiting for the Messiah to kick the Roman’s out of Israel and to sit upon the throne and rule over the people like David.  This belief is still evident in the disciples even after Yeshua’s resurrection.

When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6 KJV)

But we must understand that this was NOT the original messianic hope.  The original Messianic hope as it was declared to Havah in the Garden of Eden was NOT about restoring the Davidic Kingdom to Israel, but about overcoming the power of sin and death for all people. 

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15 KJV)

All humanity was in bondage to sin, fear, and death because of the fall of Adam and Havah.   

Yeshua answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. (John 8:34 KJV)

Yeshua did not come to throw the Romans out of Israel.  Nor did he come to sit upon the throne in Jerusalem to rule over the secular state of Israel.  Nor did he come to fulfill the political ambitions of men.  Nor did he come to conform to their religion, expectations, or hopes.  He came to win the hearts of anyone who would dare to draw near to the Father in love and submit themselves to keeping the Covenant as given to Moses at Mount Sinai.  He came to provide a means for humanity to draw near to the Heavenly Father.  He came as the provision by which YHWH would express his deepest love for sinful humanity.  He came as the provision by which sinful humanity could express their love for the Father.  To do this Yeshua had to teach his disciple the way of the cross.  Yeshua came for the cross.

Only by putting to death the flesh, with all of its political ambitions, self determination, selfishness, self-centeredness, self-beliefs, ambitions, expectations, hopes, dreams and desires, will one willingly submit to a life committed to living the Torah as received by Moses, and taught by Yeshua.  Only when we have embraced the cross (i.e., given up our all and all of us) will the Spirit of the Holy One write the Torah upon our hearts.  This is what Yeshua came to do. He came to fulfill the will of the Father not the will of the people.  To do this, Yeshua, likewise had to face the cross.

But let us note that Peter, and probably the others, were hindered from receiving what Yeshua was teaching, because they were holding onto the convictions of their own understanding of what the Messianic hope was.  Because they could not let go of the belief system that they were raised with, that surrounded them, that was affirmed and confirmed by every religious expert and authority of their day, they could not receive Yeshua’s message, but instead stood against him to protect their belief, their religion, their hopes and ambitions.

I fear that many of us may do the same thing.  There is so much that we don’t know or understand about the mighty and magnanimous works of the Creator.  Truly, we see through the glass dimly and know only in part.  But, if we hold onto the doctrines and dogmas of our youth, our culture, our denomination, and our religious systems, we may also find ourselves standing against our Master!  I cannot even begin to tell you, how many of my once core convictions have been eradicated from my life, because I have come to new knowledge and understanding.  Now, I am slower and more tentative about what I proclaim as truth.  What I know, I know only in part and only imperfectly.  I am thousands of years removed from the events and teachings recorded in the scriptures.  I am inundated and infused with values and perceptions rooted in a culture completely foreign to the scriptures.  I read of the teachings of the Master only second or third hand after they have been filtered through years of mistranslations, misinterpretation, and ignorance.  I do not want to hold on to these things so tenaciously that when the Master speaks I find myself unable to receive his word, or worse yet, at odds with him.

Yeshua, rebuked Peter calling him “Satan,” the adversary.  He rebuked Peter not because Peter was possessed by a demon, but because he was possessed with the doctrine, theology, ideology, hope, expectation, and political ambition of men—who sought the restoration of the kingdom for sake of personal and political pride and glory and not for the sake of fulfilling the calling of YHWH upon the people of Israel to manifest the image of YHWH in the world, by submitting to the Torah.  In other words, those looking for the restoration of the kingdom to Israel were truly looking for the ejection of Rome and the re-establishment of “self-rule” rather the YHWH’S rule.

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.(Mark 8:33)

How many of us, are likewise waiting for Messiah to return that he may vindicate our theology and fulfill our personal agenda?  How many of us are waiting for the return of the Messiah so that all those people who thought we were annoying, crazy, pushy, and wrong will see that we were right all along?  How many of us are waiting for the return of the Messiah so that we will see all those people who rejected us, called us names, thought we were annoying and crazy, get what’s coming to them? How many of us are waiting for the return of Messiah so that we will be healed, the threat of death removed from us, and so that we may receive all the blessings of heaven?  How many of us are, like Peter and the people of his day, waiting for Messiah for all of the wrong reasons?  How many of us are only waiting for the return of Messiah for the fulfillment of what we believe, want and hope for?  How many of us are waiting for the Messiah so that we will have every dream, desire, ambition, hope, and idol that prevents us from submitting perfectly to the will of YHWH removed from our lives?  How many of us will be willing to lay down everything we have believed for years, and all that we once held dear that we may receive the truth as the Master speaks directly to us? 

Yeshua is speaking to us, in his call to pick up the cross and follow him.

 ³⁴ And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ³⁵ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. ³⁶ For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:34-36 KJV)

We must be ready to lay down everything, if we desire to be a disciple of Yeshua.  We cannot come to him with preconceived ideas, theologies, convictions and beliefs and expect him to fulfill our thoughts, theological inventions, ambitions, and beliefs. The Master did not come to fulfill our beliefs. The Master came to fulfill the will of the Father.  The Master will not return in order to fulfill our desires, he will return to fulfill the will of the Father.  It is we who must conform our beliefs and lives to the Master’s teachings.  If we hold onto what we believe, in spite of what Yeshua is teaching, we shall surely find ourselves in the role of Satan the adversary, and may expect the Master’s rebuke.  There is, according to Yeshua, no profit in holding onto to what we believe if it in the end it prevents us from perfect unity with the Father.  If, on the other hand, we are ready to erase the board of all that we once believed, confessed, and taught as truth, then the Spirit of the Holy One will fill the void with all truth, and we shall be ready to receive the Master when he returns.