On Simon Peter When Our Lord Said to him, Get Thee Behind Me Satan

Of the Holy One, Mar Jacob the Teacher. A Memra. (On Simon Peter, when Our Lord said to him, "Get thee behind me, Satan" (Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33).) In all my words I call you a true son: all your utterances have been given glory to your Father. A voice of thanksgiving ascends from me in hymns, when I am amazed at the word of your glory in your praises. Let your mouth be a lyre of sounds, son of God, and instead of incense receive glory from the weak one. In the fire of your love, let the air be heated for speech, when the beauty of your story is displayed before the hearers. Let the perfect sacrifice be the words of your faith, and receive the place of refuge like an offering. Your honor is sufficient for me instead of sacrifices in hymns, and in all my voices every thanksgiving is offered to you. You are the sacrifice and the blood; they are not worthy of you, the voices of glory are the garments that clothe you. The son who pleased him that he might be a sacrifice for sinners: let my mouth sing pure glory with a loud voice. High is your word among speakers; let glory that scatters voices be poured out upon your praise. To the height of your word I ascend; I cannot reach it. Descend to him who is simple, that he may be likened to you.

He humbled himself, and in his humility he spoke with me. He ascended to where he is, which I cannot reach. If his discourse is not fathomable to the great depth, how does it reach him that after him I speak of him as he is? Look at your word, which was cast down toward the earth, and after you it came, and behold, it spoke with the weak. From the high and lofty ones, your word proclaimed the love of your father, and beneath the depths and the visions of the earth below, it placed you. And upon that which was cast down, it pressed upon the earth in your humility. Behold, the dust-speakers proclaim your discourse while they are weak. It descended from the heights, and behold, the depths are enriched by you. Enrich me also, that within the depth I may proclaim your discourse. To the lower parts of the earth, the mercy of our Lord proclaimed you, and because of this, the dead spoke of you at their boundaries. To your high place, who could have ascended and been exalted, and you would have spoken among the legions of flame? In these walls of the house of Gabriel, when he passed by, and cast your discourse among the orders of the heavens. Toward the chariot of the power of the wings, when he approached, and your word stirred ... the motion of the great height. On the path of the coals that cannot be touched, how did he run, going, seeing, and coming to tell the earth your discourse? ... that which is with you for your father, when he stood, and opened his mouth ... of the many for you.

Not by knowledge does a person approach him, that he may be justified. If, however, he seeks through faith, he is able to find him. He hid the sciences and the whole of wisdom, and with small nets of birds he caught his teaching. Scribes buried him, and interpreters became a stumbling block, for in homilies his good news to the whole world was proclaimed. The wise were amazed, and when they were disturbed concerning his coming, they fell from the truth, being those who measured his discourse.

Philosophers were astounded and bewildered, and they became fools: For they saw illiterates teaching wisdom. These who yesterday were holding snares— Behold, the net of the world is bent, and the trap of Simon is set. (The lowly fisherman of the land of Tiberias, who listens to the Galileans, And the scribe of Bethsaida who gives wise teachings— A physician of the sick, without studies and without reading: He stands before them, masters of gold, at their banquets. The commander of a great army and his soldiers are defeated by victory; And in that which is defeated, he seizes the land that is named after him, and it is established. He chooses from empty waters, from his knowledge, for his knowledge: Not by their own, but by his own, he sent Simon. Simon commanded that the world be released from its reading, So that the whole world would be his own, while they are poor. By these which are his, Simon enriched and impoverished Simon, While from their own, nothing remains for their hunt. But by his death, his powers were not diminished; And the one who is ashamed confesses in his death that it is not his own. Concerning Simon the chosen, upon whom he said, "Get behind me, Satan": He called him Satan, and did not strike his face, while loving him. That disciple who was the rock of the church of God, And gave him the keys of height and depth because of his love. Because he saw that his death was not fitting for his pride, And as if in anger, he called him Satan, the head of the disciples.

And if I have love that presses upon teaching, I would be moved now to speak this story. The chosen apostle, who also laid the foundation for the Church, Satan, shortly after, used to call him. It is love that stands, whose knowledge is without limit. And if there is love, it is the word that fills beauties. He would say now to him, "That disciple was distressed," when Satan called him "Savior" as he said. Envy, a bitter thing, had entered Simon because he had grown, and he was troubled that a blemish was placed upon that beautiful one. He saw that he was chosen, beautiful, pure, and full of light, and exalted in his truth, and his faith full of beauties. He had heard that he received that revelation from the Father's house, that like a confidant he learned the name of the Only One. He looked at him, that he took great blessedness from the Savior, and became rich and reigned, both from blessings and from revelations. He heard that a beautiful name was given to him, that he would become a rock, and for the building of the kingdom he became a foundation. He saw his Lord giving him the keys of the entire treasure, that he would command height and depth authoritatively. He heard that command had gone out over the apostle, that even in heaven he would be ruler, loosing and binding. He saw that yesterday he was a fisherman, and today he reigns, and he envied, burned, and clapped his hands in agitation.

He had heard that the Church was being built, that it was to be a foundation for the fallen one. And he and Death were driving away from her so that she would not enter. He learned the measure of what is uprooted for her, Sheol, the house of her treasure. And the Church was being built of firstborn over the disciple. He had heard that the guilty fall, the accusers cease, the snares of Sheol are abolished. And the Church takes hold of heights and depths and the whole world. The perception of the path of eternity came to him, that it was being opened for her. And there was to be a turning back of Adam, a healing for his inheritance. From the confessions of the wild one, that turbulent one learned: that every time he erred, he would set him straight, and then he would be exalted. The evil one was troubled by these things that he heard because of Simon. And he placed a reproach upon the apostle for his destruction. For he said that he had struck at the great foundation, and behold, the whole building was tottering in the height of its ruin. If the disciple had slipped a little, as if to fall, the Church would have tottered, and if not, the great one would have fallen. If this one who was the rock had stumbled or fallen, even the building that stands upon him would be shattered. For Simon, the snare of the fall fell, and if it had fallen upon him, behold, the whole mass of the foundations that were fastened to him would have been broken. The twelve would have been, and if one of them, the first, had been broken, all his companions with him would have come to the side of darkness. If the head of the mass were taken, it would be scattered, for if the foundations are shaken, the corners would be hidden from the sides.

To that head of the apostolic order, if he should consider, woe! The whole fleeing and vain proclamation from the faces. If in his truth Simon, the head of the disciples, stands, Behold, the likeness and image of me and my blood, my beloved. If the disciple perseveres in the beauty of this confession, The whole earth learns from him and goes astray from my teaching. If at his feet he does not sin, woe! in one of the forms, He brings forth wealth from the house of the father and scatters it. He enters and stands over the treasury of divinity, And spreads it out to the world in wealth, and I go astray. And all the images in the places become a mockery, And the high horn of paganism is broken. And the feasts of the idols cease from the lands, And the priests turn or are led towards God. And the whole sphere of the gods becomes a mockery, And the high idols that were set up in it fall to the ground. But if Simon is not healed from his confession, Woe! I do not stand and flee, I have from his teaching. Great damage has the Satan inflicted on that disciple, And he has set snares and hidden traps for that true one. And if against his Lord the foolish generation of the erring one has stirred, Against the servant, how much would he have raged against David? With God from God he made a contest, Against a human, how much would he have raged in his insolence?

To that head of the apostolic order, if he should consider, woe! The whole fleeing and vain proclamation from the faces. If in his truth Simon, the head of the disciples, stands, Behold, the likeness and image of me and The great one began again against the disciple: Over all the causes of error he was wont to be perplexed. He set up darkness against the light to contend. And as much as he could, he set up a side that was not perplexed. He said, "Evil one," and made a generation with the Saviour. And when he was ashamed, he fell like lightning before the ranks of angels. And he trembled and was confounded and let his hands drop from victory. And he knew the son of the carpenter and the son of the carpenter and was silent before him. And he began to bend the houses of the priests of the Jews. And he taught stumbling-blocks to the priests and scribes and Sadducees. And he entered and stood in the marketplaces and took them in the face. He was delighted in their blasphemies against the true one. And he was stirring up every time that the Lord of forces performed a sign. Instead of glory, he stirred up divisions among the beholders. And from the signs that the Lord of forces performed, he was snatching: that Beelzebub did not bring out demons, and not the Only One. He made the priests his companions in the market. In the market, he brought heads and rulers to his party. And with blasphemies and mockeries he was dealing to them concerning the victorious one who contended in the generation. He stirred up divisions. That sun, however, was being troubled by the shadow. And every time it went, it would flee from him from the paths. With the rays of light, it would spread out for him and reveal him. And it would give place for the light to take hold of the whole world.

And with all his might, our Lord looked upon him, and he was troubled and confounded in the midst of the stones, for he heard him. A place was given to him, and he fell in haste upon the disciple. And in his haste, he deprived himself of freedom. He separated Judas from that band of discipleship, and made his fellow a partner in the evil deed with a full measure. A great snare of the love of money struck Judas, and it caught him and cast him down into greed and avarice. And if he had been able to do so to all the rest of the pure ones, he would have feared from the beginning of their deeds. The great serpent placed its tail in the footprint of the apostolate, and cut off that member and cast it to the ground. A bitter thought remained in one member, and the whole body remained safe without being harmed. Judas fell into the ruin that cut him off from the disciples, and because bitterness filled him, he burst apart. And another member was placed in his stead among the disciples, and without blemish the body of the apostolate remained firm. It was not in Judas that the evil of the cross began, but in the great one and master of all the lords. And when the first fall was in the generation of the mighty one who did it, he remained and was ashamed before the victor who spread his net. And after this, he laughed at Simon, the head of the disciples, and hand in hand he mocked all the good deeds.

And he found the one who had gone astray, the net was cast. And within the net, the snare fell and caught him there. Deception and great cunning and falsehood: he taught the chosen one and made him reprobate among the disciples. Hear now from the causes of that wretch: Christ called Simon, the head of the disciples, 'Satan.' He had been envious of him, and he drew near to him to whisper to him, that if he could, from his greatness, he would cast him into the net. He was upon him with the nakedness of a serpent, his companion, that if he gave him a place beside him, he would snatch the keys. Immediately, that revelation received from the Father, and he took and brought forth great goodness from the Son. And upon the foundation of the Church, he was placed as a true one, and he gave him the keys, the Son who would open the house of his Father. He placed 'Satan' after the heel of that disciple, and he was running that if he could, he would place a blemish in him. And our Lord began to speak because of his passion, and to his disciples he revealed the mystery of his crucifixion. Our Lord spoke concerning his murder and his passion: when and how he would suffer all from the Jews. Until then, he was not saying, 'How will it be that I should teach you?' that by his will he would mount the wood of the crucifixion. Come to his apostles, 'How will it be for him from the crosses?' And for that reason, Satan drew near to show that it was his.

He made Simon a king, as if to the beloved of the Son of God: he multiplied affliction, and like a beloved one he swallowed him in the snare. He had set another trap for him, which he could not find: that he was true, and the love of his master would not change. For the love of money, the head of the disciples did not fall; nor for the love of Jacob, nor for deceit, nor for change. In that love in which he stood, a trap was set for him: from the love of affliction, a fine morsel that swallowed him up. The demon of affliction stood before his mind, and put on affliction because of the nature of the crucifixion. Simon was troubled like a near one and took a burden: that same affliction that was in the soul of Satan. He felt affliction like a lover in these tricks of affliction that he heard; and he feared and was troubled because of his master, like a near one. The beast became instead of the true disciple, and began to cast loose counsels to the Son of God: "Do not, my lord, do not, my lord, bear the afflictions of the crucifixion; and do not approach affliction and death in any manner. Beware lest you die or be mocked by the Jews; beware lest you suffer or be tormented by the crucifiers. Not thus, not thus, shall affliction touch you, my lord; the hidden one, who from anything is hidden, shall be purified from the persecutors. Life and glory of the Living One are fair for you; death is hateful for you, beware lest you die, you who raise the dead.

In these troubled kings of love, the chief of the apostles was casting about without suspicion. And later, his heart saw that his own self was troubling her, and he knew the speech of the one from whence he was, like the Knower of All. In secret, he was pursuing that thought which was stirring in the apostle: that the seed was the serpent's, not his own, that disciple. And immediately he was revealed before Simon, while loving him, and as if in anger he called him Satan, and he was an apostle. To the king of love (of the one from Satan), while that apostle in his own right stood firm for the Savior. That oppressive thought which was in Simon, he called him Satan, who was not completed to the cross. The serpent of our father, death to Adam in the house of the trees, gave counsel without suspicion to the son of the cross. And he who knew that the virgin would counsel, he afflicted his friend because of the trouble that was disturbing him. Not like Eve did the king of love, our Lord, receive counsel, on whom came the serpent's sting to his side in his crucifixion. He was not troubled by the disciple who loved him, that he might loosen the cross of life, through which the world is found. On account of what he was seeking, he abolished from him, calling him Satan, for to Satan he made bitter the death of the Son of God. "Go, Satan, and cast yourself behind me," he was saying to him: "Do not obstruct for me the way of the casting of the net for the thief.

Send me, Father, that I may be a sacrifice in place of sinners. To the cross, you are the great sacrifice that cannot be approached. Flee from before me, that I may reach the death prepared for me. In it, I will loose the bonds of Sheol from the darkness. Come to me, to the hidden place of the straight path, against the sufferings. And no one can stand before me and hinder me. You are a support for me, that you may await the path of death that you desire. Unhoped-for, you hasten to my house, O Satan. I have a little time, and I reach the place of the skull. From your persuasion, that you may await the path of life that is full. It pleased me, and I became in the womb, hidden, born of the light. In the deep light, the crucified one stands, and Adam lives. Over death, I have compassion, that I may die and revive the dead of Sheol, so that they may see me enter and loose their bonds. If you had hindered me, either from the belly or from the child, or from the light, it would have been easy for you to await me from the skull. The Father who sent me gave me a promise for the depths of Sheol, and otherwise I would have fallen, and her form would not have turned back. The image of the Father imprinted on the sign, and behold, I descend. I raise him up in my place, and otherwise, she would not ascend. From Paradise to the tomb, the serpent cast Adam, and over them I came to enter and bring him out from destruction.

Spare me, take the sufferings, you say to me. How does it spare the world of the living, as you say? This word of yours is, "Remain, I say, from the cross. And remain in Sheol, the great image that cannot be approached. Behold your counsel, that you let go of the cross and did not ascend it. And Adam was swallowed up in Sheol, where he is. If I have hope from the side of death, I would strive for life. For unless I die, life cannot be found for Adam. The captivity is bound in the pits of graves, and behold, I go. Bring the captivity to the place of my hope, you, from the Redeemer. (The gates of Sheol have devoured my little ones; flee from before them. Go, bring my little ones who are scattered from the sides. Among the lost, his corpse for Adam in the house of darkness. Let me go in, let me release the corpses, and then I will turn back. The serpent and Eve have mocked each other and overthrown Adam. Your counsel is nullified, that it might be accepted if it were like that. Spare me, for what if I do a deed in Sheol? And I will break the gates of death that have imprisoned him. And I will set up high ladders of the daughter of darkness. And I will destroy the wall of death that cannot be seated. And I will lay waste to the den that swallows generations. And I will uproot all its evil walls by the evil of the cross.

And I shall be a guest among the dead for three days. And I shall make heard to you the imprisoned ones of Sheol, that you may go forth. And I shall roll in the dust of the dead and beg of him for the beloved coin in which there is the image that was destroyed. And with the spices of the crucifixion I shall test the form of the ruined serpent, the mighty one among the gods. Why, Simon, do you say, "Spare me, you will do these things"? For if I do not die, all is vain, as you say. Your word stands against the mysteries of the cross. For if I do not die, they are not completed, as was spoken. If against the wood, before the people, you do not hang me, then Moses the deceiver saw the tree of life that you hang. But my feet and hands are pierced, as you say. David cries out over his being stripped, that he was not true. And if he who is vinegar and gall drinks, they do not give to me, then the mystery of the cross is nullified, and you are received. But he divides the people with my brothers, as was sung. What does he leave for David, the king who was a cross-bearer? If among the dead I am not, as was commanded, then why did he cry out that he was among the dead, but did not die? If, as the lamb, "Do not lead me," I become a sacrifice, then Isaiah, who called him a lamb, is a liar.

But he was silent in the likeness of a lamb before the shearer. A great loss, not of a captive who was not captured. If the names of the coins in my hands are not visible, Zechariah the captive, when he asks, "How long?" he says to him: "But the sun darkens and shines in the uprightness." To "How long?" it was said that it would be a light for the evening assemblies. But it would be in the heart of the earth for three days. His form, the likeness of the dove, is hidden from the revelations. If he who spared me tastes death, as you command, all the captives cease from now on, as you say. And here is a covenant that the path of uprightness will be abolished, from Satan, who seeks to weave beautiful things. You are a stumbling block to me on the path that runs toward sufferings. "Get behind me, go, run before me toward the skull." In that great redemption that he wrought through his uprightness, our Lord looked when Satan called the apostle. "Spare me that you may die," as if to say, "Spare me, you will redeem." And because of this, his anger and his folly increased, and he multiplied his flesh. He looked and saw how many knots he would loosen in his death, and how many closed doors he would open over the imprisoned, and how many debts within he would repay from the lineages, and how many hidden snares of the slanderer he would break, and how much he would reconcile the upper and lower houses, and how much he would abolish the wrath that the serpent had cast.

And how many dead are buried in him when he died. And how many prisoners see light in his descent to Sheol. And in his haste he looked, and when the likeness was said, "Hush," he rebuked his beloved and cast him behind him in great wrath. "A stumbling block you are to me, if I have pity on you," he says, "you are to me." Not that you delighted in God, but in the evil ones. "The deceiver says to you, 'Father, in his love for his son, come.' Do you think that you are to me like a hair, if I die, come? On account of my knowledge, son of whom, come, has death moved you? For there is no opportunity for the likeness of a son who does not die. I am not troubled that if I wish, I can easily die. And if I die, come, through me I have bound for myself the life of the resurrection. The evil ones are troubled, you, when you look, you, that a mortal man leads a dead one. And when he does not wish to subject the likeness, he cuts himself off, and the end lowers and drags him into the abode of Sheol. And his spirit goes out and returns to his earth, which is dust, and he sees destruction and laments and perishes over the living. And he hides the moth and worm in their boundaries, and nothing remains there in the darkness. And his course is blotted out, and no longer does he turn toward his friends, and he leaves his lovers, and they no longer are sated from his abundance.

This is the way of the dead, this way that is opened for you. And it was not opened for that one by whom God drives the man. From my learning of God, the Son of God, the man. It was not opened for that one: if the man dies, his death is like mine. When the man dies, he does not deprive me of the morsels of Sheol. And death cannot look upon the face when the man goes out. And the man does not see destruction there in the house of the departed. And death cannot prevail to seize the door in the face. And they do not say to me, "If you are dust, he too will turn to dust." And the devourer and the moth do not confuse me with their habits. And the man does not count from the lost among the departed. And death does not examine me in its depth as it does the rest. And Sheol, the swallower, does not imprison me when I descend to it. And the worm does not cast its stench upon me for corruption. And I do not lose my loved ones like a human. And the near ones do not say, "He is not, for he has been destroyed." It was not opened for you that if God approaches death, life is hidden in him even when he dies, and he revives the dead. This is the way of the dead that is opened for you, O disciple, that they die and perish, and the rest of their memorials cease. It was not opened for you that one by whom God, when he enters it, into Sheol, makes the dead who have been swallowed up tremble and be disturbed.

It was not opened that God might go down to the grave. The bones of the dead go out on his way from destruction. For the living, the gate is opened that is of their death. Their life has ceased, and they have become dust within their graves. It was not opened that the Son of God might enter Sheol, to uproot and demolish it and empty its place. It was not opened that if God takes on a likeness, he would not see in it destruction in Sheol as a man does. And behold, it is opened for the living, and not for God. This way is mine, as mine; look into it, if you can see. For I told you that I both die and rise. Rejoice in the resurrection, and do not be troubled by death. I have a way, a skull, to the depths of Sheol; otherwise, by its pains, the crucifixion would not be accomplished. Three days I have looked here until I come, for it is not the going of the living when I come. Go, I will keep vigil for the dead for three days, and open for them the gates of Sheol that were shut. Two courses are on the path of death; I have a third to tread, and I come by that third; do not be troubled. It is easy for me to die, and easy to live, and I am sovereign. I go and come as I wish, and they do not hinder me. The gates of Sheol are not closed when I have gone up to it; the dead who are imprisoned in it fall and rise.

Can it be that I would place my soul if I wished? I: and when I wish, I take it, and I am master over it. It was not another who would take it from me when I die, I: that I, by my will, in the hands of the father, place it. And that gate of God is not opened in this way. But in the death of the righteous, behold, the sign is seen. By the cause of Simon, the Church learned from the Savior: that when the manner of his death falls upon her, she will not be troubled. The death of the Son of God is the death of death itself, and the suffering of the sufferer is his suffering, which the knower knows. He suffered sufferings in him when he was suffering on the cross, and he died death in him when he was dying, and he did not suffer. He taught the Church by the hands of Simon, the head of the apostles: that she should love the goodness that killed him when it was spoken. With concealment and with tears of full anger, he drove away bodily thoughts from the disciple. And he rebuked Satan from the Church, that he might not sow in her the weak thought that fears to make confession in the death of the Son. And he took the disciple to his side from Satan, when he did not fear to hear the good things of the crucifixion. And that one who was rebuked in his name said that it was a remembrance, and he took with him also the weak thoughts that he had. Satan fled to the hiding place of Jesus, and the disciple remained before the Son, being armed with his crucifixion.

Get behind me, Satan,” was not said to Simon; rather, it was the evil one who went away, and the apostle stood firm, confessing his Lord. The loose angels fled from Satan, away from Simon; and the rock remained, while that rock was within the house. He wept for his beloved, the son of God, at the casting of the lot; and Satan fled, who would not have hindered his way on the road. He set his face against the passions that have no end. Blessed is he who, by his death, revived all the dead of Sheol. This concludes what our Lord said to Simon: “Get behind me, Satan.