The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

 © 2024, Dr. Tamilio

After Jesus asks the disciples who they think he is, Peter gives the correct answer.  But then, once Jesus tells them what will happen next — that he “must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed” — immediately after that, Peter, the one who declares that Jesus is the Messiah, takes Jesus aside and rebukes him.  This occurs in other versions of this story.  In Mark’s account, which we read this morning, we do not get the second part of the story.  We need to turn to Matthew 16:22, in which Peter exclaims, “Never Lord! … This shall never happen to you.”  Jesus’ response?  “Get behind me, Satan!”

Satan?  Really?  That’s pretty harsh.  It isn’t that Jesus thinks that Peter is the devil, but rather that Satan is working through him by denying what must be, what must happen for the salvation of the world.

Let’s (for a moment) put aside the idea that the devil is this horrific beast of a monster breathing fire while trying to tear unsuspecting Christians limb from limb.  Think of him working in more subtle ways, because that IS how he works.  He gets us to compromise what matters most, to give into temptations just a little bit, and to follow a plan that is contrary to the Gospel, no matter how insignificant it may seem.  After all, we are not committing any of the really big sins.  Our transgressions are much smaller and more benign, right?  Those don’t really matter, do they?

Many times in the past, I have quoted the character that Albert Brooks plays in the film Broadcast News, particularly his description of the devil.  He basically says that the devil will be handsome, helpful, and nice, and will simply lower our standards where they really matter.  Aye, there’s the rub!

Life presents many opportunities where the standards are lowered and we hardly notice, let alone care.  You don’t have to look too far.  You’ll see it everywhere.  Maybe part of it is due to COVID-19.  When the pandemic hit, everything closed.  The generation that was in middle school and high school in particular lost a great deal of the requisite social skills that come with being among peers.  That generation now self-soothes in virtual reality.  I am not talking about virtual reality games, although some of them are immersed in that.  I am talking about this [the iPhone].  This is a reality of so many younger people.

When you have a moment, watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix.  It is eye-opening.  The makers of this documentary are tech insiders who talk about the platforms they created: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (now X).  They also talk to psychologists who discuss the effects of being plugged into an iPhone 24/7.  Dr. Jonathan Haidt, who is a Professor of Social Psychology at New York University’s Stern School of Business, Dr. Haidt says this:

The number of teenage girls out of 100,000 in this country who were admitted to a hospital every year because they cut themselves or otherwise harmed themselves, that number was pretty stable until around 2010, 2011, and then it begins going way up.  It’s up 62 percent for older teen girls.  It’s up 189 percent for the preteen girls.  That’s nearly triple.  Even more horrifying, we see the same pattern with suicide.  The older teen girls, 15 to 19 years old, they’re up 70 percent, compared to the first decade of this century.  The preteen girls, who have very low rates to begin with, they are up 151 percent.  And that pattern points to social media.  Gen Z, the kids born after 1996 or so, those kids are the first generation in history that got on social media in middle school.  How do they spend their time?  They come home from school, and they’re on their devices.  A whole generation is more anxious, more fragile, more depressed.  They’re much less comfortable taking risks.  The rates at which they get driver’s licenses have been dropping.  The number who have ever gone out on a date or had any kind of romantic interaction is dropping rapidly.  This is a real change in a generation.  And remember, for every one of these, for every hospital admission, there’s a family that is traumatized and horrified.

Get thee behind me Satan.

And it isn’t just the younger generation.  I am not picking on them, nor am I saying that all the problems with the world are contingent upon “kids these days.”  Adults have been lulled into such apathy as well.  We have been given a false sense of reality.  We have been led to believe that politicians — on both sides of the aisle — have the answers to every problem that we face.  We deify them.  We do the same with celebrities.  No longer do they tell us what shirts to wear and what detergent to buy.  They tell us what to believe.  They tell us how to vote.  They tell us how to live our lives.  They tell us that they have the key to happiness.  What’s worse, they pit us against each other.  We are now suspicious of our neighbors.  We don’t trust them.  Ideology has become more important than friendship.  Compassion has taken a back seat to carefully packaged and marketed beliefs.  It is so ubiquitous and insipid that if you blink, you’ll miss it.  We do not even realize it is happening!  Our culture has instilled in us the values that we are to embrace and follow, and we do so like zombies and automatons.

Get thee behind me Satan.

I once had a colleague who said that Pontius Pilate was the first relativist.  Remember, before Jesus is crucified, Pilate questions him about the claims he and others have made that he is the Messiah.  It is a powerful exchange found in John 18:37-38.

Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?”  Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king.  For this, I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”  Pilate then asks, “What is truth?”  In other words, “Truth-shmooth.  Truth for me.  Truth for you.  Don’t tell me what the truth is!”

But there is truth.  It has been revealed to us over 3,500 years.  It is found in an ancient text that has more than stood the test of time — a text that reveals God’s truth.  Remember, as Shakespeare said, “Even the devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”  Therefore, we need to read Scripture and interpret it with our hearts, minds, and souls.  We need to listen, truly listen, to what it says as we are guided in our study by the Holy Spirit.  Only then will we have a firm foundation.  Only then will we be able to put the devil to flight.  Only then will we be able to withstand his ruse.  Only then will we know the truth, as Jesus said, the truth shall set us free.

Get thee behind me Satan, and get thee in front of me Jesus.

Amen.