But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to Me, because you are thinking not as God wills, but as people do.”
Jesus responds sharply to Peter’s human, non-biblical mistaken thought, calling him “Satan,” not as a demonic being, but as an adversary standing in the way of God’s plan. Peter’s advice—to save Jesus from suffering and death—was in fact the same as Satan’s temptation in the wilderness: to avoid the cross and suffering. Jesus shows that even a disciple with leading faith can become a temptation if he begins to think not according to God’s purposes, but according to human purposes. Here the word “temptation” means an obstacle, a hindrance, and Jesus immediately rejects it, preserving His obedience to God’s plan.