Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
“Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!
You are a stumbling block to me;
you do not have in mind the concerns of God,
but merely human concerns.”

see Matthew 16:21-25

WHAT DID JESUS SAY, TO MAKE PETER SAY WHAT HE SAID, that then led to Jesus’s harsh putdown of Peter? Why does Jesus call Peter a “stumbling block,” when his friend was merely pledging protection? Reading the whole story, you see Peter resisting Jesus, because of something Jesus predicted. Peter’s attitude could get in the way, hindering Jesus from fulfilling his mission, like a “stumbling block”. This leads to harsh words between them.

Ironically, Jesus had presented Peter with a stumbling block, too.

Used more than a dozen times in the New Testament, either by Jesus or the Apostles, the Greek word skandalon is chosen to describe something that gets in the way of living right, or a stumbling block in terms of understanding. The very label Jesus uses – skandalon – to get Peter’s attention, is used later, to describe the type of misunderstanding, or denial, Peter exhibited, as he listened to Jesus speak of what the Lord must go through. The CROSS did not make sense to Peter, and he stumbled over it, at first. Later, as the story and message of Jesus spreads, the skandalon of the Messiah on the cross comes up over and over again, controversial for Jews and Gentiles alike.

I find myself stumbling. Of course, I stumble over temptations.
But I also stumble over the cross.
Why?

YOUNG CHURCH

BEYOND SUNDAY

  • Four separate Small Groups meet via ZOOM on a regular basis – “Guys Group”; “Group With No Name”; “Crown Hill Group”; “POD-19”; email office@emmausroad.net for info
  • New Horizons Dinner – sponsored every first Wednesday; email office@emmausroad.net for info.