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This week we continue our discussion of chapter 22 of Luke’s Gospel. Please read verses 31-43 every day this week and, if possible, use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 22:31-32 (Williams New Testament)
“Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has asked permission to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed especially for you that your own faith may not utterly fail. And you yourself, after you have turned, must strengthen your brothers.”’
I think I may have mentioned previously that I really don’t like award ceremonies. In my opinion, countless thousands of pounds/dollars are wasted on people who already have more than enough money just so that they can parade around on stage massaging their already inflated ego. Not to mention the speeches! We hear so many of them drone on about their political opinions and then proceed to thank everyone on the planet, and all the time being in floods of tears. As you can tell, I have quite strong opinions on the matter!
One thing that particularly gets me is when they look directly down the camera lens and state with apparent sincerity: “To all my fans, I love you.” Most of these super stars never get to meet any of those fans. They are aware of a few I dare say, but there is no way in the world that they could possibly love each and every one of them. Then they go on to say personal words of gratitude to specific people. They speak to everyone first and then ‘hone in’ on someone specific.
Well, that’s exactly what Jesus is doing in our verses today. He firstly says something to everyone and then talks specifically to Peter. We discussed yesterday how Satan has to ask permission to even touch any of God’s chosen people. We generally think that the verse is all about Simon Peter, but the reality is that when Jesus said “Satan has desired to sift you”, as we see in our translation today, Jesus actually said “Satan has asked permission to sift ALL OF YOU”. Satan wants to destroy not just one or two individuals; his desire is to destroy all of us. Yes, he seemingly attacks key personnel within churches but the aim is to use that to bring total destruction to the whole church. We should not be surprised at that because as the Apostle Paul says, ‘we are not ignorant his schemes’.
While Jesus is telling Peter that Satan has plans for all the disciples, Jesus goes on to say something specific to Peter. He says that He has “prayed for you”. This word ‘you’ is now used in the singular and is intended just for Peter. Please don’t misunderstand me here; it’s clear that Jesus had prayed and continued to pray for all the disciples but this particular passage is directed specifically for Peter and him alone. It is a word not so much of warning, but of prophetic insight and full of purpose. Jesus has prayed that his ‘faith may not utterly fail’. There is the prophetic edge to this that shows that Peter indeed was going to fail and as it turned out, to fail quite badly. However, it’s clear that even though Peter would ‘fall’, he would never abandon his faith completely. His discipleship was damaged, but His faith remained intact just as Jesus had prayed.
The last part of the verse is a declaration of the purpose and promise of God in Peter’s life. Jesus says that “once you have turned”. This actually means “once you have turned back”. Once he had come back, it was his responsibility to strengthen his brothers. Jesus is telling him that even though he would fall, God’s purpose would not leave him. My prayer today is that even when we fall or fail God, we are confident that He will restore and that He will continue to work out His purpose in our lives.
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