[Elsie]

Why was it necessary to contrast Himself with Peter - who just four verses later was REBUKED soundly??

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23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

[Natural Law]

" Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

There are three slightly differing accounts of this exchange; Matt 16:23, Mark 8:33, and Luke 4:8. A harmonized reading of all three shows that Jesus was not referring to St. Peter as the devil. Satan simply means "adversary" and was an admonition to Peter to see the bigger picture and not further attempt to dissuade Jesus from His fate on the cross.

Peace be with you.

[JustSayNoToNannies]

Why was it necessary to contrast Himself with Peter - who just one verse earlier acknowledged Him as "the Christ, the Son of the living God"?

Why was it necessary to contrast Himself with Peter - who just four verses later was REBUKED soundly??

Another good question - both the acknowledgment and the rebuke make the supposed contrasting redundant at best.