But he turned
Either to Peter, changing his countenance, and looking sternly
upon him, or rather to the disciples; for Mark says, "when he had
turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter":
Peter had took him aside, and was arguing the case privately with
him; but what he said was so offensive to him, that he chose to
reprove him publicly before the disciples; and therefore turned
himself from him to them, in a way of resentment,
and said unto Peter;
in their hearing, and before them all,
get thee behind me, Satan.
The Persic version renders it, O infidel! as he was at present,
with respect to the sufferings, death, and resurrection of
Christ: some take the word Satan, to be a general name for an
adversary, or enemy, as it is used in ( 2 Samuel
19:22 ) ( 1 Kings
11:14 ) and think that Christ calls Peter by this name,
because he was against him, and opposed him in this point; which
sense abates the harshness of this expression. But it seems
rather to mean the devil, who took the advantage of Peter's
weakness and ignorance; and put him upon dissuading Christ from
suffering, for the salvation of his people: though it should be
known, that the word Satan, is used by the, Jews F23, to
signify the vitiosity and corruption of nature; of which they
say, (awh Njv) , this is
Satan; so the messenger, or angel Satan, ( 2
Corinthians 12:7 ) may be thought to be the same; (See
Gill on
2 Corinthians 12:7) And then our Lord's sense is, be gone
from me, I cannot bear the sight of thee; thou art under the
influence of the corruption of thy heart, and nature; thou
talkest like a carnal, and not like a spiritual man; and
therefore Christ denominates him from his carnality, Satan, one
of the names of the vitiosity of nature, whom a little before he
had pronounced blessed; being then under the influence of another
spirit, as appeared from the noble confession of his faith in
Christ: this change shows the weakness of human nature, the
strength of corruption, the inconstancy and fickleness of frames,
and the imperfection of grace in the best of saints.
Thou art an offence unto me;
or a stumbling block to me, a cause of stumbling and failing; not
that he really was, but he endeavoured to be, and was as much as
in him lay; and had he given heed unto him, would have been so.
It may be observed, that nothing was more offensive to Christ,
than to endeavour to divert him from the work his farther called
him to; he had agreed to do; what he came into this world for,
and his heart was so much set upon; namely, to suffer and die in
the room of his people, in order to obtain salvation for them:
never were such words uttered by him, and such resentment shown
to any, but to the devil himself, when he tempted him to worship
him.
For thou savourest not the things that be of
God;
meaning his sufferings and death, which were the appointment of
God, the counsel of his will, the provision of his covenant; what
he foretold in the prophecies of the Old Testament, and what he
had an hand in, and in which the glory of his grace, power, and
justice, was concerned, and were the end of the mission of his
Son into this world; which things were out of sight and mind, and
were not regarded by the apostle at this time;
but those that be of men:
he thought of nothing but worldly grandeur in the kingdom of the
Messiah, as a temporal prince and Saviour; and of the continuance
of Christ's natural life, for his own carnal and worldly
advantage; which showed him to be, at this time, greatly under
the influence of corrupt nature. So, though the blood,
righteousness, sacrifice, and death of Christ, are savoury
things, things to be savoured, minded, and regarded by believers,
and accounted precious; and they do mind them, so the word
signifies, ( Romans 8:5 ) when being
blessed with a spiritual and experimental knowledge, and
application of them to themselves, they exercise faith, hope, and
love upon Christ, with respect unto them; when they remember them
aright in the ordinance of the supper, the love from whence they
spring, and the benefits that come hereby; and when they discern
the Lord's body in it, a crucified Jesus, and the blessings of
grace which come by him, and ascribe their whole salvation to his
sufferings and death, and taste the sweetness there is in these
things, eating his flesh and drinking his blood by faith; yet
being left to themselves, they do not savour, mind, and regard
these things, but carnal things, and human schemes; as when they
are dilatory to profess a crucified Christ, and submit to those
ordinances of his, which set forth his sufferings and death; or
are negligent in their attendance on them, their place being
often empty at supper time; or if they do attend, their hearts go
after other things.
F23 T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 16. 1. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 6. 2, 3. & passim.