Why did Jesus said Get thee behind me Satan to which disiple?

Answer 1

Jesus rebukes Peter in Mark 8:33, saying, "Get behind me Satan..." This is part of a small chiastic structure in which Peter had rebuked Jesus for saying openly that he would suffer and die and after three days rise again:

a. Peter affirms that Jesus is the Christ (Mark 8:29)
b. Jesus refers to his death and resurrection (8:31)
c. Peter rebukes Jesus (8:32)
c' Jesus rebukes Peter (8:33)
b' Jesus refers to death, the cross and life after death (8:34-37)
a' "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me ..." (8:38)

In this structure, event a' is a reversal of Peter's affirmation of faith in Jesus (event a). The opening and closing events in this structure are also part of another, much larger parallel structure that encompasses the entire gospel, this time as pairs T and U. Just as in the above chiastic structure event a' is a reversal of event a, in the framework parallel structure Peter's denials of Jesus at event T' are a reversal of Peter's affirmation (here as event T). And remembering Jesus' warning in event U, "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed," Peter then wept (event 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)

If Jesus spoke these words, it was a response to Peter's rebuke of him. However, we can see from the relationships of the above two structures that Jesus' rebuke, saying "Get behind me Satan," was part of a careful literary construct that calls into question whether Jesus ever rebuked Peter with these words.

Answer 2

The setting for this may also be found in Matthew 16:15-24. We find Peter to be an outspoken person and when Jesus asked His disciples, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter quickly and strongly said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." This pleased Jesus and He complimented Peter which may have gone to his head as the next paragraph we find Peter rebuking Jesus for what He said about His upcoming scourging, ridicule, crucifixion, death and resurrection. Well Peter took Jesus aside and audaciously, presumptuously and yes, foolishly began to sternly correct Jesus.

The above setting leads to Jesus sternly rebuking Peter saying, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men (verse 23). You see Peter was depending upon human reasoning which was against God's divine plan. This human reasoning can also be called the way of ha Satan thus Jesus referring to Satan when addressing Peter.