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“And He [the Lord Jesus] began to teach them, that the Son of Man must suffer many things…and be killed, and after three days rise again…and Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him…but…He rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind Me, Satan” (Mark 8:31-33).
Only a short while before this, Peter had boldly confessed Jesus as the Christ—the Messiah. But now, when the Lord Jesus started to tell His disciples that He must suffer and die, Peter could not accept that, and actually began to rebuke the Lord Jesus! He was so sure that the Lord Jesus would set up His kingdom at that time that He tried to tell the Lord Jesus that He should not die on the cross.
Then the Lord Jesus had to rebuke Peter, saying, “Get thee behind Me, Satan.” The Lord Jesus knew that Satan was behind what Peter was saying, for Satan is always trying to go against the will of God. If the Lord Jesus did not go to the cross and die, there could be no salvation for us. It was the only way that sin could be put away.
Because this world has rejected the Lord Jesus, the kingdom has been postponed, and will not be set up until after the Lord’s coming for us. Those who follow the Lord Jesus today must be prepared to follow a rejected Christ.
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