Neville Goddard on Matthew 16:21-23 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Matthew 16 in context

Scripture Focus

21From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

22Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.

23But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Matthew 16:21-23

Biblical Context

Jesus explains the necessity of going to Jerusalem, suffering, and being raised. Peter rebukes, revealing the pull of the human ego against divine purpose.

Neville's Inner Vision

To Neville, this scene is an inner drama. The time is when you become aware of a truth that requires a shift of your inner state. The inner Jerusalem is the state of consciousness you must enter, where the old self offers fear based reasoning, the elders and scribes of your mind, telling you to avoid sacrifice. But the Christ within, the true I AM, must go forward, suffer the reasoning of the carnal mind, and be killed to birth a higher awareness. Peter's rebuke is the voice of that old self seeking safety, and it is the Satan that keeps you clinging to the familiar. The command get thee behind me is the invitation to place your present thinker behind the divine vision and choose faith in God thought. When you assume the end, you embrace the crucible as necessary transformation. You awaken to the fact that the suffering is not punishment but the vital trimming of your inner branches, making room for resurrection in your present experience.

Practice This Now

Imaginative_act: In a quiet moment, imagine you are already in Jerusalem in your mind, willing to go through what must be done, and see yourself raised to a higher state; then feel the reality of that new state as now.