It’s a play on words and it makes me laugh. But it also has a meaningful and practical application. I’m sure you remember the story it’s based on.
Jesus was telling his disciples that he was going to go to Jerusalem, out of the political frying [an and into the fire, where he would assuredly wind up killed. Peter tried to rebuke Jesus, telling him that he could continue to avoid this fate, that he had more good to do-that he couldn’t help anybody if he was dead. Well, Jesus flipped the script and rebuked Peter.
“31And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead. 32And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s purposes, but on man’s.”
34And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. 35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37For what could a person give in exchange for his soul? 38For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
That’s a loaded passage. The gist is that in that moment Peter forgot what he had just said - that Jesus was the Christ- and the implications for that (which is a conversation in and of itself).
What about being Christ meant that Jesus had to suffer? Jesus hints at it - self-denial to start.
People are complicated, always have been. Peter either knew what it meant to say ‘you are the Christ’ but denied the path before Jesus, out of fear or pride…or Peter didn;t fully understand what it meant to be Christ or human for that matter and to have a finite amount of time and influence to accomplish something…or Peter, perhaps like Judas, had his own thoughts about the greatness or purpose of Christ. No doubt, whatever it was is rooted deeply in Peter’s humanity, his cultural expectations, his faith…but that’s the point.
We don’t get it, because we are so often wrestling with all those things, which make up our ego, that we cannot fully understand or embrace What Jesus calls us to - not without a lot of work.
So Jesus psychologically slapped the shit out of Peter. “Get behind me Satan” he said. Ouch. Jesus calls out his ‘second in command’ in front of everyone and not just to tell him that was a bad idea, but he calls him his enemy or the enemy of the Christ. Let that sink in.
There is a way of thinking, which has to do with self preservation, that is fundamentally opposed to what it means to live Christ-like (or fully human).
Because that’s what Christ calls us to and models for us. To love God so much (with all our soul, mind, and strength) that we love our neighbors as ourselves. This is what the real Jesus taught. This is how he lived and died.
So any version of Jesus or his followers that are preoccupied with one race over another, or one country over another - whose ideas about what it means to be “clothed in righteousness” involves patriotic colors? That shit can get right behind me. I reject that Jesus. Christian nationalist Jesus is not the real deal, but the enemy.
Thus, ‘Get Behind Me Jesus’ is about rebuking ideas about Jesus that don’t line up with the Jesus and God of the Scriptures. I know that’s a lot, but if you’re here and still struggling with those ideas about God and Jesus and the Church, then I hope to convince you of that in the course of this podcast…or more realistically, if you’re here trying to figure ‘what now'?” because you’ve already rejected that kind of faith, then I hope we’ll have fun together exploring authentic faith and community.
Get Behind Me Jesus has positive spins too.
You ever have to throw hands to protect someone? You’d put them behind you because their precious to you and you’re willing to do what needs to be done, even if it means getting your hands dirty (or in my case taking a beating). Now, fighting is the opposite of the way of Jesus, but its about the imagery.
I’m not advocating violence, I’m advocating the same kind of ferocity of spirit in defense of the truth that often is misdirected in defense of a lie.
Or if you’ve played a team sport, you know you have to protect the player with the ball and the plan/skills to make the play. You do your part to make a lane and defend.Or if you’re stranded in a place and you have little to no direction or fuel, you might need someone to get behind you and push.The title is like a ‘footprints in the sand’ kind of thing, except it makes more sense.
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