RICH DUBOSE

The disciples struggled with this. They had their own version of what God’s kingdom was supposed to look like and they kept trying to pull Jesus in that direction. One day, after warning his disciples about the deceptive teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus explained what was going to happen next. But before he did that he had two questions for the disciples. 

(1) Who are people saying the Son of Man is? The “Son of Man” title probably came from a prediction in Daniel 7:13-14: where Daniel said, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.” This is a clear reference to Jesus coming to his Father. Such a title reminds us of Jesus’ humanity and divinity. He is both the Son of Man and the Son of God, which is incredible.

The disciples answered Jesus question by saying, “Some say [the Son of Man is] John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets” (Matthew 16:14, NLT). Among the people there was a sense of uncertainty over who the Son of Man was, which caused Jesus to ask his second question.

(2) “But who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being” (Matthew 16:15-17, NLT). Jesus told Peter, “You didn’t come up with this on your own.” There was no way anyone could have made such a bold declaration without God convicting them it was true.

Shortly after this we come to the part where Peter thought he knew better than Jesus what the Messiah should do. In essence Peter wanted Jesus to do his will.

“From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.”

“But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. ‘Heaven forbid, Lord,’ he said. ‘This will never happen to you!’”

“Jesus turned to Peter and said, ‘Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s’” (Matthew 16:21-23, NLT).

Get Thee Behind Me

Wow. Here we see Jesus calling one of his most prominent disciples, Satan, and the identifying trait that made Peter most like Satan was that he viewed life, himself, and Jesus’ mission from a human point of view. Instead of seeing everything through God’s eyes, which he was called to do, he resorted to filtering it all through the lens of conventional wisdom and human logic.

Today some Christian Churches are engaged in a battle to try and get God to do their will. Even though Jesus plainly said, “My Kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), they believe it should be of this world and are on a mission to politically force their views about God and religion upon society as a whole. 

Even though Jesus demonstrated that his Kingdom is based upon service, compassion, and showing kindness to all, many Christian pastors and leaders are colluding with political forces to try and establish a “Christian Nation” that coerces and legislates people into following their version of God’s will. It is what religious people do when they have a version of spirituality that is malnourished and devoid of the Holy Spirit’s power. They settle for a substitute that emanates from a different source —a “power over” kind of authority that manifests itself from a human point of view rather than God’s will. History shows that following such a course always leads to persecution.

In her compelling book, The Great Controversy, Ellen G. White wrote, "God never forces the will or the conscience; but Satan's constant resort—to gain control of those whom he cannot otherwise seduce—is compulsion by cruelty. Through fear or force he endeavors to rule the conscience and to secure homage to himself. To accomplish this, he works through both religious and secular authorities, moving them to the enforcement of human laws in defiance of the law of God.” (Great Controversy, p. 591)

There are civil, religious, and governmental authorities out there who believe it's OK for them to advise, and/or coerce people to ignore their conscience. They believe their positions of authority somehow give them the right to tell others how they should believe and live, beyond the civil and moral laws that typically maintain community and national order.

Speaking of such leaders, Ellen White predicted back in 1896 that the time will come in the United States when they will force men to comply with their ideas of what is right. This is what Israel did in the days of Christ and what the church has done ever since whenever she has lost the grace of Christ. Finding herself destitute of the power of love, she has reached out for the strong arm of the state to enforce her dogmas and execute her decrees. Here is the secret of all religious laws that have ever been enacted, and the secret of all persecution from the days of Abel to our time." (E.G. White, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, page 126).

Coercion and Force

Jesus told his disciples, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28, NLT).

The ultimate demonstration of our acceptance of God's Kingdom occurs when we stop trying to get him to do our bidding. and make ourselves available to do his will.

Rich DuBose writes from Northern California. Photograph by Sofia Alejandra, with Pexels.

* Got Information is an online Bible study information source.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.