Frightening Forces

DAILY BYTE

Peter’s view of God was not big enough for him to handle the idea of Jesus voluntarily entering suffering and hardship, so he thought he had to pull Jesus back into line. In fact, this is where he himself was brought back into line through the challenge of Jesus’ strong rebuke.

‘Get behind me, Satan!’ may sound an overly harsh rebuke to our ears, especially after Peter’s recent confession of faith, but Jesus was not telling Peter to leave him forever because of his miserable failure.

No, Jesus was telling Peter to get back where he belonged, behind God and following God not trying to lead God.

If we keep in mind that this story is meant to be heard by all Jesus’ disciples, then perhaps we should hear this rebuke for ourselves as well. Don’t ever try to fit God into presupposed boxes that neatly fit our very human ideas of who God should be.

God will not be tamed! God will not be confined by human perceptions and ideas!
God is far too big for that, far bigger than we could ever possibly begin to imagine. Perhaps then, because it is meant for all of us, it is time to bring Jesus’ question directly to you once again:

‘Who is Jesus to you?’ ‘How big is your God?’

You know, we spend every day amongst very large and frightening forces. If we are honest with ourselves, then sometimes our view of who God is can be dwarfed in comparison with our fears regarding these forces. Just like the tiny figure of Jesus was dwarfed by those temples, so God (or rather our view of God), can seem so small in comparison with what we encounter everyday.

For example, next to the power that materialism and money seem to have on the world we live in, and indeed on us personally, God and what God values can seem so puny. I remember once walking through the centre of London – the banking sector – and feeling dwarfed by the skyscrapers, and feeling spiritually dwarfed by this overwhelming sense of ‘mammon’.

Or next to the insidious and draining grip of our weaknesses, our own failings and temptations and addictions, God can sometimes seem so tiny. We try and try and always seem to fail and so wonder if God really is powerful enough to make a difference.

Or next to the stark realities of evil, of human suffering and need, our perceptions of God can be horrible dwarfed. Like Peter, most of us struggle to connect the idea of divine love with the idea of human suffering. A couple of years back, in the States, a little girl’s father killed his estranged wife and then kidnapped her. He fled with her along a highway, until he finally became so desperate that he shot himself. Later film footage of this terrible family tragedy depicts his car being pulled up onto a tow-truck, and as it does so a sticker on the car comes into view reads: ‘Jesus is the answer’.

Sometimes we encounter such chilling evil and suffering, that our faith is almost swept out from under us because our perception of God is so small in comparison.

PRAY AS YOU GO

In your prayer time today, consider what daily ‘forces’ you encounter that you most struggle with in terms of threatening your faith. Commit these fears to God in an open and honest way.

FOCUS READING

Mark 8 : 29-33 (NRSV)

He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

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."