LUKE 22

 TEXT TO REFLECT

 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” 33 Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” 34 Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

LUKE 22:31-34, 60-62

REFLECT

Simon Peter is often remembered as being a coward, having denied his Lord 3 times. He is also regarded as being a braggart with little self-awareness, since having ‘talked big’, he failed to keep up to what he had proclaimed to Jesus. 

Jesus had told Peter that he would be severely tested. At this, Peter protested that he was ready to go to prison and to face death with Jesus. Yet when questioned, not be the authorities, but by common onlookers including a slave girl, Peter vehemently denied that he even knew Jesus. In the eyes of many, Peter was a dismal failure, a write-off.

Yet Jesus saw it differently. He saw that Peter would encounter an onslaught from Satan. “Behold, Satan demanded to have you, to sift you like wheat.” Jesus saw that Peter had been targeted by Satan for his attacks, and that he would be severely tested. He saw that Peter would fail in that one instance, but that he would turn back to faith. Jesus had prayed fervently for Peter that his faith would not fail altogether, even if Peter fell then. And that when Peter had turned around, he would strengthen his brothers. There would be redemption even in falling. Having fallen and gotten up, his early failure would be used to strengthen his brothers.

And Peter did succumb to the pressures exerted by Satan. Fear overtook him and he denied his Lord three times. At his third denial, Jesus looked at Peter. I wonder what that look conveyed. Was it love? Was it assurance? Was it an “I-told-you-so?” look? We do not know. But that glance from Jesus reminded Peter of what His Lord had said, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” I wonder though, whether Peter also remembered his Lord saying to him, “And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Whether or not Peter remembered that at that moment, Jesus kept to his word by reinstating Peter after his resurrection. Peter’s failure was a prelude to his powerful ministry after Jesus’ resurrection.

RELATE

We have a propensity to write ‘failures’ off the moment they fall. Their failures ‘prove’ to us that they are not fit for our admiration or emulation. And so we cut them off. Yet what we cannot see is that these persons were targets of Satan’s onslaughts. We are unable to see how severely they were tested and how easily it is to fall when tested so severely. And what we do not see is the hope that our Lord may see in their failure, that in the midst of their failure, Jesus was interceding for them that their faith would not fail. And that when they have turned back, they can be used powerfully to strengthen their brothers. Over the years as a pastor, I have seen how cruel and unrelenting Satan’s onslaughts are, and how close to impossible it is for a person to stand firm. Yet I have also seen how God never stops reaching out to protect each person’s faith, and how he draws us back to Himself. And it is when we have been drawn back that we can strengthen our brothers and sisters.

REST

O let the Son of God enfold you,

With His Spirit and His love,

Let Him fill your hearts and satisfy you soul.

O let Him have the things that hold you,

And His Spirit like a dove,

Will descend upon your life and make you whole.

Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill Your lambs

O come and sing this song with gladness 

As your heart is filled with joy.

Lift your hands in sweet surrender to His Name.

O give Him all your tears and sadness,

Give Him all your years of pain,

And you’ll enter into life in Jesus’ Name.

From Spirit Song, John Wimber, 1979.

Chiu Ming Li