Luke 22:31-34 - Satan Wants Us to Fail

Welcometo Pastor's Chat. Today, we're continuing in Luke chapter 22. The Lord has beenin the upper room with His disciples, sharing the Passover supper. As we'll seetomorrow, He also instituted the Lord's Supper for future generations like youand me. Now, the Lord is leaving the upper room with His disciples and headingto Gethsemane. Judas has already left, as Jesus had just told the disciplesthat one of them would betray Him. Now, the Lord speaks to Peter in verses 31-34. Itis interesting that this word of warning followed the dispute over who was thegreatest! Imagine how the disciples must have felt when they heard that notonly would one of their number betray Him, but that their spokesman and leaderwould publicly deny Him! If a strong man like Peter was going to fail the Lord,what hope was there for the rest of them? Theword you in Luke 22:31 is plural; Satan asked to have all the disciples so hemight sift them like wheat. These men had been with Jesus in His trials (Luke22:28), and He would not forsake them in their trials. This was both a warningand an encouragement to Peter and the other men, and our Lord's prayers wereanswered. Peter's courage failed but not his faith; he was restored tofellowship with Christ and was greatly used to strengthen God's people. Jesusnot only reveals that Judas will betray Him, but He also tells Peter that hewill deny Him. This is a significant passage of Scripture. Here is Peter, thespokesman for the disciples, the strong leader, as seen throughout the Gospelsand the early chapters of Acts, boldly proclaimed his faith, saying that evenif everyone else denies Jesus, he would not.  Severalkey points emerge here. First, Jesus said, "I have prayed foryou," noting that Satan sought permission to sift all the disciples aswheat, to cause them to fail. Satan is after every one of us, wanting us to beineffective as leaders and to deny knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. He would tossus like wheat to be blown away with the chaff, rendering us ineffective in ourwitness, though not losing our salvation. Peterresponds with confidence, saying, "Though all others forsake You, Iwon’t—I’ll die with You." But Peter didn’t know himself as well as hethought. The book of Jeremiah tells us “the heart is deceitful above allthings and desperately wicked; who can know it”? (Jeremiah 17:9). Jesusdidn’t pray that Peter would not fail but that his faith would not fail. Satantempts us at our strongest points. Peter’s strength was his courage, yet helost it, though he did not lose his faith because the Lord prayed for him.Jesus told him, "When you have turned around, strengthen yourbrethren." Peter’sbold statement reveals his pride and self-confidence, implying he understoodwhy others might forsake Jesus but believed he never would. Yet, as the Lordpredicted, Peter not only forsook Him but denied Him three times. It all beganwith Peter’s pride and overconfidence in himself. Again, Peter didn’t knowhimself as well as he thought. Satan wants us to fail and often tempts us atour strongest points. Abraham’s strength was his faith, yet he faltered, goingto Egypt and lying about his wife, Sarah. Moses, the meekest man on earth, losthis temper with rebellious Israel and forfeited his entry into the Holy Land. Wemust be careful, but remember that Satan cannot tempt us without permission, asseen with Job. We need to remember that our Lord is praying for us, and He willsee us through. And when we turn back from our failure, we have the opportunityto strengthen our brethren, just as Peter did. The main way we can “strengthen ourfellow believers”, is to pray for them like the Lord. And not pray they won’tfail, or not have trouble or persecution, but pray that their faith will not failwhen they falter and stumble.  Godbless!