This message was originally delivered at West Richmond Friends Meeting on November 10, 2019.
Mark 8:31-37 NRSV
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
So, what comes to mind when you hear the word Satan?
For me, it’s easy to imagine the red, horned figure wielding a pitchfork.
This is really the satan I grew up with. A tempter who was always lurking in my thoughts to lure me toward bad thoughts and evil actions - away from the life Jesus wanted me to choose but which I was too often too weak to live up to.
Maybe that meant making fun of people, disrespecting my parents, enjoying secular music that didn’t feature uplifting themes, etc., etc.
I always had to be on guard against the corrupting influence of culture really engaged in spiritual warfare against me and my God.
Mark 8:31-37 NRSV
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
So, what comes to mind when you hear the word Satan?
For me, it’s easy to imagine the red, horned figure wielding a pitchfork.
This is really the satan I grew up with. A tempter who was always lurking in my thoughts to lure me toward bad thoughts and evil actions - away from the life Jesus wanted me to choose but which I was too often too weak to live up to.
Maybe that meant making fun of people, disrespecting my parents, enjoying secular music that didn’t feature uplifting themes, etc., etc.
I always had to be on guard against the corrupting influence of culture really engaged in spiritual warfare against me and my God.