A Human Point Of View

Mark 8:33

"Get away from Me, Satan! You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's."

Jesus' words here to Peter reveal that there are two opposing viewpoints, human and God's. Peter was thinking only on the human level, the reasonable thinking processes that wanted to defend Jesus from being taken and executed. Common sense would demand this. But God's view was that Jesus came to this Earth, becoming human, in order to be His sacrificial Lamb to die in payment of our sins. 

We know that Jesus was tempted in every way we can be tempted, and His strong language here to Peter indicate that He was strongly tempted to let Peter fight for Him, to deliver Him from this consequence. His prayer in the Garden, repeated three times, shows us that, in His flesh, when it really came down to it, He really didn't want to have to go through this horrendous, grisly, painful process of dying for us, but He knew that there was no other way to redeem us. Only this would have the power and authority to remove the sins and the state of sin that separates us from God. Only this would allow us to be with Him for all eternity. So He prayed, "Not my [human] will, but Yours [ours from all eternity] be done." That's how much He loves us!

May we endeavor to think God's thoughts, through the Spirit Who lives in us, instead of succumbing to the reasonable, common sense, worldly way of thinking.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!