This is a familiar passage about Jesus predicting Simon Peter’s denial of Him. However, the version in Luke has a couple of important points that are captured in particular. What can we learn from this passage about a disciple whom Jesus knew would deny Him?

 

1. God Is Sovereign

Notice that when Jesus broke the unfortunate news to Peter about his denial, He told him that satan has asked to sift him as wheat. Before we examine the idea of sifting, first we need to recognize God’s sovereignty in all this. Just as satan had to challenge God to get Him to test Job, likewise, satan here had to seek permission from God to sift Peter. Satan alone does not have the power to put us through trials and tribulations without first seeking permission from the Lord. This also implies another thing, that God allows trials and times of testing to occur sometimes, based on satan’s suggestions. In that case, then we can take comfort that since God knows us best, and will not tempt us beyond what we can bear, what God allows to happen is what God knows is within our power to stand firm against.

Now, sifting itself is a simple process. The wheat grains that you want along with all the chaff is placed in a sieve. After shaking the sieve for some time, the fine particles will pass through the gaps in the sieve, and all the chaff is left behind, and can be removed. I believe that the sifting mentioned in this verse is not about separating the good disciples from the bad disciples, or that satan meant to separate Peter from the disciples. I think that the sifting here refers to an internal process, that all of Peter – his hopes, fears, concerns, faith, thoughts, and etc – is passed through the sieve, and what satan hopes to do is to make Peter see the chaff left behind and accuse him, bringing him down, while what God wants to do is to clear away the chaff. The same process can achieve two different purposes.

 

2. God Intercedes Specially

The simple point is this: Jesus allowed satan to test Peter, but at the same time, He tells Peter that He has prayed for him that His faith will not fail. The seemingly contradictory part would be later in the verse that shows that Jesus knew exactly that Peter would definitely deny Him, and three times before the rooster crows at that. Does that mean Jesus’ prayer doesn’t work? No, because what was going to happen was still a result of free will. Given the three circumstances that Peter would face, he still had a choice of whether to deny Jesus or risk death, but he chose the easier path. I believe that when Jesus said that, it was out of love and assurance. Even knowing what would happen, Jesus still prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail. God does not expect us to fail, or wish us to fail His tests.

Sometimes we go through trials, tests, and temptations, and we feel as if God was just waiting for us to make a mistake and condemn us, but actually what we are feeling is what the devil wants to achieve. Especially when things go wrong, and we think we are suffering punishment for our transgressions, we tend to mistake God as someone who is just waiting for us to do something wrong so that He can discipline us. That is far from the truth. God does not put us through the sieve, and see the chaff that pops up and catches us for it, thereby inflicting punishment; His goal is a much nobler cause, which is to purify us.

 

3. Grace is Sufficient

Even in knowing the impending denial from Peter, Jesus still believed in him and prayed that his faith would not fail. More importantly, Jesus instructed Peter that when he had turned back, strengthen his brothers. The important word here is ‘when’, rather than ‘if’. God knew that Peter would fail the test. Even so, it did not affect Jesus’ treatment of Peter at the table. More importantly, Jesus had complete faith and trust that Peter would turn back eventually, and hence the word ‘when’.

Peter took a long time to come back to God. After his denial, he went back to fishing, and was wallowing in self-pity. At that point, it was clear what satan was trying to achieve in his proposal. After the sifting, satan reminds Peter of all that chaff, and destroyed his confidence and self-image. He had thought he was prepared to go to jail or even death with and for the Lord, but satan proved him wrong, and caused him to be in a state of despising himself.

Yet the important thing is that Jesus also wanted him to be proven wrong, but not for the sake of bringing him down, but for the sake of revealing to Peter the true state of his heart, so that when he is restored to his former state and glory, he would become a true servant that Jesus could use – one whose pride has been shattered and has come to the end of himself. The Lord’s grace is more than sufficient. He specially went to Peter, performed the miracle of the big catch, and asked Peter the three painful questions to reinstate him. That is something that anyone could take comfort in.

 

 

Further Reflections