Peter's Horror at Jesus' Death

The Lord Jesus often taught His disciples that Israel would reject Him as Messiah and He would be put to death. This was incomprehensible to the apostles, especially to Peter, for Messiah must come and rescue Israel!

But Christ rebuked Peter for savoring the things of man and not those of God. Christ's death as a sacrifice for sin was essential to His duty to save His people as Messiah.

Peter's rejection was not merely of Christ's suffering death, but also of His being rejected by Israel. No doubt Peter assumed that the leaders would repent, or the mass of people would overcome their leaders' objections to Christ, or that Christ Himself would use His power to see Himself exalted as Messiah over Israel.

Peter's desire that Christ be accepted by Israel was the "thing of man." Peter thought it was the will of God, but just the opposite was the case.

Peter's mistake was in thinking that Jesus could not be Messiah if the nation rejected Him as such. But Jesus is Messiah whether men accept Him or not!

All through the Gospels, Jesus warns His people that they must be prepared to side with a rejected Messiah at all costs, looking toward the kingdom that would come one day.

If only the disciples could have learned to worship Messiah even when He was cursed by Israel! Imagine Peter's grief when he saw Jesus being drawn down to death, and he discovered that he didn't have the courage to identify himself with a rejected Messiah!

It was the very rejection of Messiah by Israel that Peter loathed so that was the very means by which the Savior was offered up as a sacrifice for sin. Israel maliciously put to death God's Lamb, Who thereby made atonement for our sin!