Luke 22:31 Commentary and Bible Study

Luke has these additional words of Christ in verses 31-32, not quoted by the other Gospel writers. They are marvellous because at first they almost overlook the blame that attaches to Peter in what is going to take place, and go straight to the comfort and strengthening he will need to recover from this fall. Of course he is to blame, but that is not mentioned in these words; it is taken for granted. Instead Christ focuses on the one thing that must not be damaged beyond repair – Peter’s faith. All the disciples will fail to some extent, but Peter will fail most conspicuously, because of his confident statements to the contrary, and because he in particular is going to be the target of Satan’s malice. ‘And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.’ Satan has desired to attack Peter, and God has given permission for him to do so. Satan’s attempt to destroy Peter will be allowed, and it will have a very painful effect, but it will not be allowed to succeed completely. Instead, in the wisdom of God, it will be used to teach Peter a most valuable lesson, which will stay with him till the end of his earthly life. As in the case of Job, who Satan fired at with his arrows, but who was secretly upheld by God, so Peter will stumble but not fatally fall. These words of warning ought to have been enough to cause Peter to immediately seek Christ’s protection, but he did not do so. It ought to have told him that he could not stand unless he took urgent action to seek refuge in God, for what was his strength compared to the wiles and power of the devil? In the overconfidence that he shows in what follows, he is virtually saying that he can stand on his own against the devil, and no great harm will come to him. He does not know himself, and he does not know the power of the devil, and he does not know his need of dependence on God for strength. Later he will say, ‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: ⁹ Whom resist stedfast in the faith’ (1 Peter 5:8-9).The Lord Jesus Christ impresses upon him how important it is that his faith should never entirely fail, by saying that he himself has prayed that it may not happen. The Lord intercedes for us, even before we are aware of the dangers that are approaching. His intercession is always effective, always answered. He is watching over all his children in their trials. The temporary breakdown of faith in the life of a Christian doesn't mean he has lost his salvation. But the breakdown of the faith principle, the trust system, just puts us into the hands of the devil, and he may sift us as wheat. The beginning of backsliding is when we stop taking seriously this trust system of walking by faith. The Lord knew that Peter would deny him, and he goes on to say so, and yet he doesn't pray that Peter may not fall; he prays that Peter may not lose faith. He prays that his application to prayer and to trusting the Lord may not be completely smashed and broken: that is the all-important thing.In a way the best thing that could have happened to the Apostle Peter was that he should deny the Lord; the very best thing that could possibly have happened to him was that he should fall on this occasion. He was a man of tremendous strength and courage and ability. He would rush in where angels feared to tread, he would rush in and say things: ‘I am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death.’ He wasn't being impetuous when he said these words; he meant them. That was his character, that was the kind of person he was. He was a tough character. And so it was the very best thing that could have happened to him that a time did come when even he was crushed and fell, denied his Lord and was exposed to himself, his need and his weakness. You could say that the first person to lose the faith system is probably going to be the strongest person, because the strongest person, the most able or gifted person, the most capable person, is probably the most self-sufficient person. In a sense his very gifts and his strengths and his abilities are his worst enemies, because, while they are great assets, they fill him up with self-sufficiency and self-confidence, and he get used to doing things without praying, without going at the task in humility, without fear and trembling. He is likely to be the person who will go weeks and months without praying, without casting himself upon God, without seeing his need, without asking for the empowering blessing of the Lord. Therefore it is probably the biggest blessing that Peter ever had, that at this stage he was allowed to go down and his need, even as a strong character, was fully disclosed to him. But the most important thing was his fall should be a blessing to him, and it should add to him, and therefore the Lord Jesus Christ says, ‘When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.’ It doesn't mean, when you are born again here – he had been born again long ago; it means when you are restored. This is a word of tremendous comfort to Peter. Although his fall is so serious, even before it happened, Christ told him that it was recoverable, and that he would even be the one to strengthen the other disciples. The Lord in effect says, ‘Peter, Satan desires to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. I have prayed that your faith won't fail through this trial, which is coming, which you don't know about yet. You are going to deny me, and you are going to fall, and when you are restored and you are back on your feet, strengthen your brethren. Turn the experience to account, exhort people in the same way you will be exhorting yourself to your need of faith and trust, not to go about things in your own strength without prayer.’