“But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
—Mark 8:33 ESV

Many times the plans of God don’t look like we would expect or hope.

An execution didn’t fit into the disciples’ idea of what the Messiah’s path should look like, and when Jesus began to explain that he would soon suffer and die, Peter “took him aside and began to rebuke him” (Mk. 8:32b).

Jesus replied to Peter with these surprising words: “Get behind me, Satan!”

You see, this wasn’t the first time someone told Jesus that it wasn’t necessary for him to go to the Cross. At the beginning of his ministry, after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, Satan came to Jesus and offered him all the nations of the world with only one condition: he had to bow down and worship him.

No cross. No suffering.

Satan tempted Jesus to circumvent God’s plan and take a shortcut to power and glory, but both in the desert and in his conversation with Peter, Jesus refused the easy way.

May we learn from Jesus’ example: when facing the suffering of the Cross, he said to his Father, “Not my will, but yours, be done” (Lk. 22:42b).

Here is a simple prayer to carry with you today:

Breathe in: I reject the shortcuts.
Breathe out: I will follow you.