Luke 22:31-34 31″Simon, Simon, watch out, Satan has demanded to have you all, that he might sift you like wheat, 32but I myself have prayed for you in order that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back again, strengthen your brothers.” 33But he said to him, “Lord, I myself am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” 34But he said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day until you have deny three times that you know me.”
Luke records one more negative example of discipleship through the story of Simon Peter. Jesus addresses him by his given name Simon. Simon was about to be a rock that crumbles under pressure. He would become the person he was before he met Jesus. The old life was not quite out of him, especially since he still relied on his own strength. The old life sometimes creeps back into all of us if we do not keep it crucified (Galatians 2:20). At this point in time, the power of the cross had not done its work in Simon’s life.
Satan was at the wait for Simon in his weakness, just as Satan is also waiting for all disciples who rely on their own thinking and perception of events. The word translated as demanded (exētēsato) does not occur anywhere else in the New Testament or Septuagint. It has the sense of asking strongly, thinking you have a right to do something. Satan has to ask the permission of Jesus to tempt one of his disciples. The purpose of a temptation like this is to test people’s faith and help them see their weaknesses so they will learn not to trust in themselves or the world but in Jesus. The image of sifted wheat illustrates how the seed is separated from the chaff. The chaff in this situation is Simon’s misguided expectations about who the Messiah is and what he needs to do.
The word for you (hymas)in verse 31 is plural. The test would not only be for Simon but for all the disciples. Simon’s story is the one that is told in the New Testament, but every disciple fled in the Olive grove. Every one had his own story of failure. Jesus picked on Simon at this point as an example and warning to the others.
Satan could not cause total destruction of Simon’s faith because Jesus had prayed for him. Satan only can do as much to a disciples as Jesus allows, and this is only to test and grow a person’s faith. Simon would face many difficult times in the future, and his faith needed to be solid as a rock. He needed to earn the name Peter, the rock. He would be the strong foundation on which the other disciples would lean when they faced their own testing.
Peter did not understand any of this at this time, as his boast indicates in verse 33. He would later come to realize the significance of tested faith when he wrote 1 Peter 1:3-9. Peter thought he could go with Jesus even to prison or death, but his boast was based only on his own thinking and imagination. He did not realize at the moment the need to consecrate one’s life completely to Jesus, which is the only path to true victory. By the end of the day, which began at sunset for Jews, Peter would deny Jesus three times. The denial was at the most crucial point of faith: one’s knowledge and relationship with Jesus. Peter needed to go deeper in this knowledge. The type of knowledge he needed comes only through the cross.
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