Click Clack

It has always fascinated me that Peter would say to Jesus, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” I get the feeling his protest is more about himself than Jesus. Maybe that’s why Jesus says, “Get behind me, Satan! You are stumbling block to me…” The other time Jesus told Satan to get lost (my words, not the Scriptures), was in the wilderness when the Christ was tempted three times. The temptations were centered beyond Jesus, not on Jesus. Peter’s focus, I think, was on himself. That was the “Satan” within, his own insistence and his self-reliance that he could and would do anything to prevent this. Our default perspective is almost always from the center of ourselves. But Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves…” and start with our lives centered on others. I learned with from the “click-clack” of another on the trail.