After Peter made the declaration that Jesus is the Christ, “He warned them that they should tell no one concerning Him” (v. 30). Then “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” (v. 31). Here we see that after the revelation of the mystery concerning Christ, we have the revelation of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. In order for Him to fulfill God’s purpose, Christ had to go to the religious center, pass through crucifixion, and enter into resurrection.
In verse 31 the Lord opened up some of the mysteries of God’s economy concerning Himself as the Christ, the anointed One of God. In this verse the Lord refers to Himself as the Son of Man. After Peter saw the vision concerning Jesus the Nazarene being the Christ, the Lord went on to unveil the fact that He, God’s anointed One, is the Son of Man. It is a great matter to see that the Messiah is the Son of Man.
In verse 31 the Lord went on to reveal that the Messiah, who is the Son of Man, must suffer and be rejected. Instead of being honored, respected, and exalted, He would be dishonored, despised, and rejected. The Lord said that He would suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and even be killed.
The unveiling of Christ’s rejection, suffering, and death must have come as a great surprise to Peter. He may have been shocked by such an unveiling. To be sure, Peter never imagined that the Messiah would be persecuted and even executed. From his youth among the Jews, Peter had heard many things concerning the Messiah. He surely expected the coming Messiah to be honored and exalted, regarded in the highest way. He had never before heard that the Messiah would suffer and be put to death.
At the end of verse 31, the Lord Jesus clearly indicated that He, the Christ, would rise after three days. Thus, in a brief way He spoke concerning His resurrection. It is doubtful, however, that this word concerning the Lord’s rising from among the dead made an impression on Peter. He had no understanding at all about what it meant for the Lord to rise after three days. Peter either did not hear this word or he had no realization concerning it.
We are told in 8:32 that the Lord “spoke the word openly.” This verse also says, “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.” Peter actually began to rebuke the Lord Jesus! To rebuke someone implies that he is wrong and needs to be adjusted. If someone is not wrong, there is no need to rebuke him and thereby correct him. The fact that Peter was rebuking the Lord indicates that Peter thought the Lord was wrong in saying that the Messiah would be despised, suffer persecution, and be killed. Here Peter seems to be saying, “Lord, what are You talking about? You are the Messiah. Certainly You are wrong in telling us that the Messiah will be despised, rejected, and killed. I must correct You concerning this matter.”
According to verse 32, Peter even took the Lord aside in order to rebuke Him. Apparently Peter was endeavoring to train the Lord, to teach Him, to open His eyes to see what Peter saw. Only the Gospel of Mark, neither Matthew nor Luke, gives us this detail concerning Peter’s taking the Lord aside. Mark received the report concerning this from Peter himself. Peter, then, must have told Mark that he took the Lord aside and began to rebuke Him.
Did the Lord go along with Peter when he took Him aside to rebuke Him? It seems that He did. But after Peter began to rebuke Him, He rebuked Peter. Peter tried to correct the Lord, and then the Lord corrected him.
In verse 33 we see the way the Lord rebuked Peter: “But He, turning around and seeing His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, Go away, behind Me, Satan, because you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men!” In the four Gospels this may be the strongest negative word uttered by the Lord Jesus. He perceived that it was not Peter but Satan who was frustrating Him from taking the cross. This reveals that our natural man, which is not willing to take the cross, is one with Satan. When we are setting our mind not on the things of God, but on the things of men, we become Satan, a stumbling block to the Lord in the fulfillment of God’s purpose.