Thought for the week - 30 August 2026

Get behind thee me Satan!

The start of the gospel today effectively heralds a turning point. – the Galilean ministries

are now completed and Jesus is setting His face towards Jerusalem, and His eventual suffering, death and resurrection. Peter has just confessed Jesus as the Son of the Living God. Now he’s admonishing Jesus and ends up being referred to as Satan! Woah!! Some turn around! But to Peter, the thought of the Messiah, the conqueror, succumbing to torture, humiliation and death is simply unthinkable. Peter who discerned Jesus as the Son of the Living God through divine means is now seeing Jesus’s words with a human mind and heart. Human aversion to suffering. Satan, the devil, pure evil really does not like the fact of Jesus’s existence. He continues to look for a way to thwart the plan of salvation which has been in play ever since Genesis 3. The whole Bible is like a rainbow, a sign of God’s covenantal promise, a soteriological arch, with Genesis 3 at one end (the Fall) and the promised beauty of Revelation at the other. One overarching story with sub-plots running throughout. The devil hates God’s plan and looks for ways to scupper it. Peter, as human, is flawed…..very flawed. Just confessed the true identity of Jesus, has been handed the leys to the Kingdom of Heaven and now has the temerity to rebuke Jesus, his teacher, his master, to look to correct Him. The devil sees a possible way in, through Peter, to try yet again to stop the salvational journey that Jesus is making.

In the wilderness Jesus heard from Satan, the devil, that He can achieve greatness without having to suffer and die. Here, in our gospel today, He is hearing a very similar message from Peter. Jesus rebukes Satan via Peter – you didn’t get Me in the wilderness; you’re not going to get Me now! Jesus had to suffer and die – He did so for Peter, for His disciples, His followers. He did so for us. If He hadn’t, Peter would have died in his sins and we would have no Christian hope, no eschatological horizon to look towards. Jesus has just called Peter the rock upon which His church will be built. A sturdy foundation stone keeping the forces of darkness away. Now rather than being a firm foundation Peter becomes like sinking sand; unstable, shifting, no longer reliable. But I believe that this is not fully Peter. I believe that Satan has spotted that little flaw in Peter; his impulsiveness, outspokenness and yes, his passion. Admirable traits, but seen as a way in by Satan. A chance to put an end to the salvation of man.

Peter’s confession of Jesus as Messiah was the work of God; Peter’s attempt to save Jesus from death is the work of the devil. An attempt to make Jesus king without the cross goes fully against God’s plan of salvation. The devil tried this in the wilderness when he offered Jesus rule over all the kingdoms of the world if He would only bow down and worship him – the devil. Jesus said then, ‘Be gone Satan!’ Much like in our reading today. Get behind me Satan! Peter had inadvertently aligned himself with Satan’s plan. Thankfully this plan is again thwarted by Jesus’s admonishment.

Evil is real. Belief in God has an equivalent belief in the devil; that he does exist. You can’t believe in the light but not believe in the dark. The devil is the absolute opposite of Jesus, he is what Jesus isn’t – scheming, sly, jealous, power hungry just as examples. And oh how easy is it to fall under his clutches – unwittingly or even intentionally. But with eyes fixed on Jesus and maintaining Christlike qualities we can thwart his attempts to woo us. That devil on our shoulders – persistent, annoying, oh so real and so often.

Get thee behind me Satan!

The devil may seek ways in, via our personality traits, like Peter. He may seek to over-inflate my ego, to give me an over-exaggerated opinion of myself, or alternatively to make me feel inferior, to doubt my faith, to feel unworthy of the friendships I have. Overly concerned about how others see me. Those weaknesses are like little niches, fissures and may be just enough to allow the devil in, and to allow him to wreck lives. I have certainly experienced the devil on my shoulder oh so many times and very possibly so have many of you. That sense of doubt which niggles away; seemingly innocuous occasions which prey on the mind and will not go away no matter how hard one tries to banish them. In my case my mind starts to spiral, I catastrophise, overthink, get too much inside my head, looping thoughts. For a short time, in my head and only in my head, my relationships with people are tainted and I question myself.

Get thee behind me Satan!

Prayer, praying for those horrible feelings to pass. But it is so difficult – the devil can be so clever. But I know that Jesus Christ is supremely cleverer, will always overcome the devil. And I can’t change the past. I can’t change what has been done. Yesterday is another country, borders are now closed.

Get thee behind me Satan!!

We are all unique. We are worthy of the love of Christ and Satan cannot pull us away from that unless we let him in. And we must not do that. The Christian life is a battle against the things that pull us away from God. It’s a daily choice to remember who we are; who we belong to. This matter most. It’s so easy to go off track, prayer life to stutter, anxiety to creep in, obsessing over material things, eyes away from Jesus. Big flashing warning signs – the devil is waiting to pounce. We’ve put something other than God at the centre of our lives. We must come back to God. We must prevent the devil from taking a hold.

So – get thee behind me, Satan! Amen.