“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you (pl) like wheat;
but I have prayed for you (sing), that your (sing) faith may not fail; and you (sing), when once you (sing) have turned again, strengthen your (sing) brothers.”
But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” And He said, “I say to you (sing), Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you (sing) have denied three times that you (sing) know Me.”
Luke 22:31-34
- pl = plural
- sing = singular
I told you in the last Gems, the clear message is that all the disciples would forsake Him. I also told you Luke is writing this for Theophilus (God lover) and for all God lovers — you and me as well. I left you with the task of working out the significance of the change in the name Jesus uses to refer to Peter and the significance of the use of the singular and plural pronouns. It’s deep.
The complete package goes back to the discussion the disciples had after the announcement that one of them would betray Jesus. Do you see now that all of Luke’s arrangement of the material connects together? Typically Luke, as we have seen. The message of this whole section is that the betrayer could have been any one of them. A sobering message for the disciples to ponder. A sobering message for each of us to ponder. The reaction of the disciples to the announcement that one of them was a traitor, was at first to debate “who”. Then very quickly to deflect the deeper more personal question in favour of putting a positive spin on it. Oh, how often we have a tendency to do that. When the heart of the matter gets close to the heart, we deflect it by making light of the issue or by switching the focus to something positive.
No, No! Let’s stay on topic guys.
Jesus returns to the matter of the betrayal again, only this time He opens up the story on a wider stage. He cuts to what is going on behind the scenes. One of you has already fallen. Satan has been successful in taking him out of the picture (Judas). Jesus gives the disciples a glimpse into the battle behind the scenes. Notice, in this segment of the story, Jesus makes it clear to the disciples what is happening here. Satan has asked permission to sift you all like wheat! You plural – meaning all of the disciples. Judas has already succumbed; but Satan is wanting the rest of you too. Satan “has demanded to have you”. The aorist of this compound verb implies the request has already been granted.[Exaiteo] carries the sense “to demand the surrender of something. Hand it/them over”. “Let me at them.” The request is made of God. Satan can’t get at you unless God gives the permission. As in Job’s day — “Have you seen My servant Job. There is none like him on the planet”. To which satan replies, “Then let me at him and I will show you what he is worth.” God allows satan access to you in order to prove the worth of your faith and your walk. Faith that is untested is still under review.
But look what satan wants to do in the disciples case: sift them. The word used here is [siniazo] which means to shake in the sieve. To shake violently in order to separate the wheat from the chaff. The sieving process is such that the good wheat and the rubbish are placed on the sieve which is then shaken from side to side with a fast jerky action in order to cause the wheat to be separated from the chaff or rubbish. Then the sieve is violently moved up and down vertically to cause the heavier wheat to fall through the sieve and leave behind the lighter larger pieces of chaff or rubbish material. That is what satan wants to do with the disciples. He wants to show them up as being worthless. God allows it to test their faith.
There is some debate among the experts as to the use of the sieve.
Some see it as I have described it above.
- That is a standard view. But there are variations.
- Just simply a separation process. Some non-wheat portions can drop through but they are quickly removed from the pile of wheat or corn below.
- The sieve holds back the larger pieces of corn/ wheat and lets the rubbish slip through.
Either way the principle is the same. But many commentators like to debate what the meaning is for the disciples. I personally think it is clear whichever way the sieving process works. Whether the wanted pieces fall through or whether the rubbish falls through, the end result is the same. The thing of value is separated from what is of no value. In this case, the focus is the disciples’ faith. Their courage to stand in the midst of the adversity which is going to come upon them. Jesus has already warned them of the testings to come. It is clear from the earlier discussion that the testing is to see if they will fall away or not. All of them are being tested despite Jesus commendation to them all in the passage before this one. They are being reevaluated.
Jesus uses Simon’s original name twice. I told you that the reduplication of Simon’s name indicates a form of endearment. Oh, dear Simon, satan has asked to have you in order to sieve you and his request has been granted. Here Jesus uses Peter’s original name – Simon, Simon comes from Gen 29:33 derived from שׁמע (shm’) which is the verb to hear in Hebrew. It can either mean heard or hearer, one who hears. “Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon.
The Shema is the line from Deut 6:4 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!” The “hear” passage or the one that starts off “Hear . . . ” it is hard to know exactly what Simon means in the context. Likely as not it means “heard” or “hearer” or “hearing”, but the inference is most likely to relate to Simon hearing from God.
However in the context before us, Jesus uses Peter’s “old name” as a reference to returning to his old nature. The name was synonymous with the person and the character. There are some I have heard claiming that Simon means “grain of sand”. I.e. the grain of sand becomes the rock on which the church is to be built. I have never come across anything which substantiates that claim. Rather, the sense here is Simon left to his old nature is prey for satan. Satan is after your old man Simon. He is appealing to your old nature. Simon the impetuous, head strong, man who is quick to make spontaneous grand statements. What are you going to do about that Simon, knowing that satan is after you?
Whatever you do, I have prayed for you personally, Simon. What is interesting about this verb is that it is also in the aorist tense. Likely as not, at the same time satan demanded the disciples to sift them, Jesus prayed for Simon. It was simultaneous in time. Before Simon was informed of what was happening behind the scenes, Jesus was covering Simon in prayer. Why was Peter alone singled out by the Lord for special prayer? There are two possible answers.
- Given Simon’s nature Jesus knew he needed extra prayer. This headstrong impetuous man who was prone to spontaneity often got himself in trouble. Therefore Jesus needed to cover him more specifically.
- Peter represented the leader of the disciples. Jesus singled him out for special prayer because satan’s attack would be focused on bringing down the leader. Hence Peter was in need of special prayer covering.
The next question we need to ask is what did Jesus pray?
Jesus prayed two things:
- that Simon’s faith would not fail.
- that when he (re)turned he would strengthen his fellow disciples.
That Simon’s faith would not die or fail. No matter who it is in focus, Satan wants to rob, kill and destroy. Jesus prayed a covering over Peter that he would not lose his faith. Jesus knew exactly what Peter’s weakness was. The make up of his character that made him vulnerable to attacks of the enemy. I have said before that satan knows exactly where to attack. His attack will always be tailor-made to our weakest point. The other aspect of this is linked to the fact that Peter was a leading light among the disciples. We need to be aware of the need to pray for our leaders. Anyone who is in a leadership capacity is likely to be attacked.
What is interesting about this section is Jesus’ comment, “When you return, strengthen your brothers.” What does that mean? Well, put simplistically, it means when you have returned after your testing. Assuming a good outcome because Jesus had prayed for him, he was to strengthen the fellow disciples. There are a number of inferences tied up in this statement.
- Inference One: He will survive this testing. Maybe he will survive it because Jesus knows he will. Or maybe he will only survive it because Jesus prayed for him. Peter’s test of faith will be just that — a true test of faith. He will be taken down to rock bottom and then will come back. But either way, he will survive.
- Inference Two: The other disciples will be in need of strengthening because they too will go through trials of their own, or crises of faith. It is not just Peter who will be sorely tested but all of the disciples. We have already picked up on that fact in what went before this statement of Jesus.
I can’t resist this next piece of input. Notice the ones who can strengthen another going through a crisis in faith, are not those who have good words of advice to bring out. Nor those who have some platitudes to share with the sufferer, nor those who have a collection of Christian sayings they bring out when the time is right. No, the one who really does comfort and strengthen a believer who is going through the mill, is the one who has been through it themselves. That is exactly what happens here with Peter. After Peter has experienced a severe testing, he is of much more use in God’s hand because of the testing he has been through, compared with before his testing. Remember what Paul said in 2 Corinthians1:3-4
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” NLT
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
- Inference Three: Peter’s testing and subsequent “loss of faith” was so severe that the word used for his “return” is a word that means in essence “repentance”. His turning again from the brink. His time of testing by the devil was severe enough to bring him low. To the point of almost losing his faith it seems. After he had “repented” was the time for him to take his experience and use it to help his brothers who were struggling. After all, isn’t that what it is all about? We, the family of faith, helping others in their hour of need. Bearing with one another, caring for one another, having compassion on one another. Knowing that there, but for the grace of God, go I.
Next Gem we will address the next two verses in this segment. Another section that is full of meaning.
A weak faith is weakened by predicaments and catastrophes, whereas a strong faith is strengthened by them.
Victor Frankl (Holocaust Survivor)
God uses the weak things to confound the strong.
Paul of Tarsus
Sometimes our greatest weakness is not being able to admit we are weak.
Louie Giglio
God may choose to show case His power on the stage of your weakness.
Andy Stanley