Why does Jesus call Peter Satan?

Answer 1

Satan is actually the Ego of the individual. The Ego is all the defects one has such as, Gluttony, Anger, Lust, etc. Furthermore, the Essence one has is perfect Matthew 5:48 "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." This is what Jesus meant when he said Mark 8:34 "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."

Deny himself - Eliminate the Ego

Take up his cross - Creation of Soul

Follow Me - Sacrifice for others

Jesus realized that the devil began to direct peter's words and have no regard for what Gods plans were that's why in verse 23 he goes on to say "You Are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Answer 2

In a way, yes. The context is Mark 8:29-38, which can be represented as a series of events, as shown below:

• "And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.
• And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he spake that saying openly.
• And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
• But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
• And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
• Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
  

There is a hidden meaning behind this rebuke, which is revealed by understanding the passage as a chiastic structure - a circular sequence in which the opening set of events is contrasted with another set of events that mirrors the first:

a Peter affirms Jesus as the Christ (8:29)

b Jesus refers to his death and resurrection

c Peter rebukes Jesus

c' Jesus rebukes Peter, saying "Get behind me Satan"

b' Jesus refers to death, the cross and life after death

a' "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me ..." (8:38)
Event a' is a reversal of Peter's affirmation (event a) and has further significance as we shall see.

The opening and closing events in this structure are also part of another, much larger structure known as a parallel structure, that encompasses the entire gospel, this time as events T and U:

A . John explains the coming of Jesus (Mark 1:1-8)

B .The baptism of Jesus (1:9)

C . The voice of God from heaven, "Thou art my beloved son" (1:11)

D . The forty days in the wilderness as an allusion to Elijah and Moses (1:13)

E . The people were astonished at what Jesus taught (1:22)

F . Jesus casts out an unclean spirit (1:23-26)

G . Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians how they might destroy Jesus (3:6)

H . Demons, whenever they see Jesus, fall down and say that he is the Son of God.

-- Jesus commands that they tell no one of this (3:11-12)

I .. Jesus calls the 12 disciples (3:13-19)

J .. Jesus rejects his own family: he has a new family, his followers (3:31-35)

K . Jesus rebukes the wind (4:36-41)

L . The demoniac, wearing no clothes (5:15), cries out that Jesus not torment him and Jesus sends out the demons (5:1-20)

M . Jesus comes into his own country (6:1)
-- Where he was brought up

N . The people misunderstand Jesus and he can do no mighty work (6:2-6)

O . Jesus sends out the disciples and curses those who will not receive them (6:7-11)
-- in sending the disciples with authority and expecting all to receive them, Jesus is asserting his own authority

P . Herod thinks that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead (6:14)

Q . Herodias and her daughter conspire to kill John the Baptist (6:16-29)

R . Feeding the thousands, and related miracles and discourses (6:33-8:21)

S . Who do people say that I am (8:27)

T . Peter affirms faith in Jesus as the Christ (8:29)

U . Whosoever shall be ashamed of me: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed (8:38)

V . The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes (8:31a)

W . Be killed and after three days rise again (8:31b)

X . Prophecy of second coming (9:1)- Jesus tells the disciples that some of them would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God coming with power.

B' .The Transfiguration of Jesus (9:2-3)

C' .The voice of God from heaven, "This is my beloved son" (9:7)

D' . Jesus talks to Elijah and Moses then to the disciples about Elijah (9:4-13)

E' .A great multitude was amazed at Jesus (9:15)

F' .Jesus cast out a dumb spirit (9:17-27)

G' .They shall kill the Son of man and he shall rise on the third day (9:31)

H' .Jesus clarifies his divine status, saying that he is not God: "Why call me good? There is none good but God" (10:18)

I' . Peter says the disciples have left all and followed Jesus (10:28)

J' . Those who have left their family for Jesus have a new family: all Jesus' followers (10:29-30)

K'. Jesus rebukes the 'sons of thunder', James and John (10:35-45 - cf 3:17)

L' .Blind Bartimaeus cries out for mercy and casts off his clothes, then Jesus heals him (10:46-52)

M' .Jesus comes into Jerusalem (11:1-10)
-- Where he will die

N' .Jesus misunderstands the fig tree that can provide no fruit (11:13-14)

O' .Jesus casts out them that sold and bought in the Temple and curses them for making the Temple a den of thieves (11:15-17)
-- Jesus is asserting his authority

P' .Jesus asks whether the baptism of John is from heaven or of men, and the priests, scribes and elders can not answer (11:30-33)

Q' .Parable of husbandmen who conspire to kill the vineyard owner's son (12:1-9)

X' .Prophecy of second coming (chapter 13)

-- on clouds of glory, within the lifetimes of some of those to whom he was speaking

R' .The Last Supper (14:17-25)

S' .Art thou the Christ, Son of God (14:61)

T' .Peter denies Jesus three times (14:66-72a)

U' .And when he thought thereon, Peter wept (14:72b)

V' .The chief priests, elders and scribes delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate (15:1)

-- Delivering Jesus is a similar concept to rejecting him.
-- Both parts of the pair involve chief priests, elders and scribes

W' .Jesus dies and on the third day rises again (15:37, 16:6)

A' .The young man explains the departure of Jesus(16:6-8)

Mark 8:29-38 gives meaning and emphasis to Peter's denial on the morning before Jesus' crucifixion, and is therefore a literary device written for that purpose. The chiastic structure of the passage itself is further evidence that this did not really happen. Peter did not rebuke Jesus and Jesus did not rebuke Peter, saying, "Get behind me Satan."

Answer 3

He did in a manner of speaking: "get behind me, Satan." What He meant was that Peter was doing something that was counterproductive to Jesus' mission (something Satan would do). Peter didn't realize that his plan was not in harmony with God's plan. In the same way we all must consider whether our plans fit in with God's will or not.

Answer 4

When Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind me Satan," he was accusing Peter of tempting him. This was not necessarily the insult it would now be in Christian circles, because the author probably still perceived Satan as the loyal assistant of God, whose assignments (cf Book of Job) were to tempt people in order to prove their righteousness. This is the Jewish view of Satan, and probably still the Christian view in the later decades of the first century CE.