"Get Thee Behind Me, Satan"
Last Updated on May 24, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 187
Context: Jesus, teaching the people and performing miracles in the area around the Sea of Galilee, moves to Caesarea Philippi. On his journey, He has more and more revealed Himself as the Christ to the chosen twelve. When He asks them who men say He is and receives various answers, He puts the direct question to them, "But whom say ye that I am?" Peter replies that He is "the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus blesses him and says that He will build His church on him. Revealing Himself further, He declares that He must go to Jerusalem, where He will be persecuted and killed, but will rise on the third day. Horrified, Peter exclaims that it shall not be. Jesus, provoked that the disciple cannot grasp the meaning of His mission, equates him with the devil, and calls on him to follow rather than to hinder. (See also Matthew 5:10.)
But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
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