Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Matthew 16.22, 23

Oops
Sin is just that slippery because temptation to sin can go unrecognized. We fail to see the red flag waving before us, and the next thing you know it’s bridge out and into the drink of sin and shame. So blind to sin can we be at times that we can even think, like poor Peter, that we’re doing something really noble and good, something to please the Lord, when in fact we’re standing in the way of Kingdom progress, duped by the devil and in danger of a drubbing.

Then, when we’ve fallen into sin, we become a trial for someone else. Imagine how Jesus must have felt to be taken aside and rebuked by His own disciple. Happily for all, Jesus – unlike Peter – recognized the situation for what it actually was, and took appropriate action.

But what Peter failed to recognize was that he was setting himself up for sin by becoming suddenly full of himself and what he may have regarded as his newly-achieved rank among the disciples. To be succinct: Peter reasoned that the Word of the Lord was neither good nor reliable. It did not describe what Jesus deserved, and it did not indicate, as he saw it, the way to the promised Kingdom. So Peter, out of what must have seemed to him like the best of motives, opposed the Word of God with his own ideas!

But where Peter failed to recognize the situation for what it was, Jesus right away understood what was going on, and recognizing Peter’s protest for what it was, He took the necessary action, even though it must have been painful for Peter.

The first step in using the provisional disciplines God has provided is to recognize that we have come into a trial and to determine the type of trial to which we have come. In this instance, Jesus succeeded, where Peter failed miserably.

Sources of trial
Some trials come upon us because of the wicked intentions or foolish decisions of others, or the frailties of our bodies and the uncertainties of life. These are normally not too difficult to recognize, as Jesus did in this instance. Sometimes, even, we can see them coming. But the schemes, failings, or mistakes of others don’t have to plummet us into the icy waters of disappointment, discouragement, or defeat. Even when others betray, attack, offend, or otherwise seek to do us harm, we can remain on the Kingdom path of righteousness peace, and joy. The sooner we learn to recognize what is happening – like Jesus did with Peter’s lapse – the more quickly we can deal with the situation, so that it does not impede our progress in seeking the Kingdom and righteousness of God.

On the other hand, we can often be the source of our own suffering – like Peter – because we fail to recognize three classic detours from the Kingdom path. These are sin, spiritual warfare, and becoming side-tracked by self.

We can see each of these at work in Peter. He sinned by opposing the Word of God – by actually denying the Word of God and preferring his own ideas to those of Christ. If he had only recognized the sinfulness of such a position, as Jesus did, he might have avoided the shame he was made to experience.

Second, Jesus recognized that Peter had fallen under the sway of the devil. By having too high a view of himself Peter became an unwitting traitor in the spiritual warfare that rages continuously around us. Again, if only Peter had remembered what he must certainly have known about Jesus’ encounters with the devil, how the devil consistently sought to oppose Christ and His Word, he might have rebuked himself and kept silent, rather than speak up and suffer the rebuke of the Lord.

Finally, Peter considered himself to have the better insight concerning the Kingdom and how to attain it. Aren’t we all a bit like this? We find the teaching of God’s Word to be difficult, inconvenient, or perhaps a challenge to our comfort or expectations. So, rather than simply obey the Lord, we rationalize our way around the teaching of Scripture in order to justify what we want to do, all the while assuring ourselves that, because we’re sincere, we therefore must be right. We need to learn to recognize that voice of self, inviting us to oppose the Word of God, or else we may find ourselves objects of the Lord’s chastening.

The suffering Peter experienced – rebuke, humiliation, embarrassment, and so forth – was of his own making. And all this because he failed to recognize the situation for what it was. The discipline of recognizing temptation – on Peter’s part – or recognizing trial – as Jesus did – can only be developed by deep and consistent immersion in the Word of God and continuous prayer. Through the Law and Word of God we learn to recognize sinful tendencies, situations, and courses of action (Rom. 7.7); and through the Word of God and prayer we, like poor Peter, can recognize our mistakes and resume our journey with the Lord.

The practice of provisional disciplines begins as we recognize the nature of our condition – whether we are being tested, or whether, having already failed the test, we are being chastened and summoned to return to the way of the Lord.

Next steps: Recognizing our situation requires that we stay alert to what’s going on in our lives, that we “walk circumspectly,” as Paul put it (Eph. 5.15). What is the role of prayer in this discipline? Talk with a Christian friend about this question.

T. M. Moore

This week’s study, Provisional Disciplines, is part 7 of a 7-part series on The Disciplined Life, and is available as a free download by clicking here. We have prepared a special worksheet to help you begin getting your disciplines in proper shape for seeking the Kingdom. Write to T. M. at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for your free PDF of the “Disciplined Life Worksheet.”

A rightly-disciplined life requires a Kingdom vision, and that vision is centered on Jesus Christ exalted. T. M. has prepared a series of meditations on the glorious vision of Christ, based on Scripture and insights from the Celtic Christian tradition. Order your copy of Be Thou My Vision by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.