“‘Simon, Simon, behold, Satan [a Hebrew title meaning, “adversary”]
has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you,
that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again,
strengthen your 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, Peter, the
rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me’”
(Luke 22:31-34).
The absolute sovereignty of God the
Son, especially in the day of His suffering, is something we should not take
for granted or overlook in the great drama of the narrative. Though Jesus tells
“the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders” that “hour
and the power of darkness” (22:53) belongs to them, He is still in total
mastery of the moment. He has not laid that lordship down. In fact, as He is at
the right hand of the Father, He has been given “all authority...in heaven
and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). I need this reality as both my foundation
and covering every day. So do you.
It’s not this sovereignty, though,
that has astounded me afresh this week. I’ve been blessed and – yes – amazed at
the grace that comes through the mediation of the great High Priest Jesus
Christ.
The adversary, as he did with Job
and does with innumerable saints, has demanded the right to test Peter’s faith.
This is what he exists to do to the glory of God. “...the Satan’s job, as God’s
submissive opposition, is to search men and women to see if there is anyone who
is genuinely godly and pious...Satan has a ministry; it is the ministry of
opposition, the ministry of insisting that the genuineness of the believer be tested
and proved genuine. It is a hostile and malicious ministry, but a necessary
ministry for the glory of God...the apostles are to be sifted by Satan, to see
if their faith is genuine. And their faith will prove genuine, not least
because God the Son prays to God the Father for Peter, and then Peter becomes the
instrument to strengthen the faith of the others.”[1]
Peter’s
betrayal, the arrest, and the adversary’s sifting of the Lord’s disciples, are
all serving the Triune God to His ultimate glory. In every moment.
I taught
from this “sifting” passage last month during a memorial service for a death I
knew would be a trial to many believers, "so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes" (2 Corinthians 2:11). We need to be aware of what is happening to us and through us in the darkness. Scripture alone reveals this to us.
The
adversary must still ask for permission from the Lord to test believers. Just
as we see with Job, the Lord defines the exact parameters for the sifting
operation of the adversary. Jesus doesn’t tell Peter that the adversary’s
request has been denied. The “one mediator also between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5) has prayed that Peter’s “faith may not
fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” He
doesn’t pray for Peter’s comfort, ease, health, wealth, or anything Peter
himself might request. He prays for that which is eternally and salvifically
important – Peter’s persistent faith. Peter benefits from this, of course (and
still is, and always will), but the goal is the Church: “...strengthen your
brothers.” It’s about Jesus loving His Church. He intercedes for the saints
to the benefit of the saints not for the individual but for the Body.
Peter
betrays Jesus three times, just as Jesus foretold (22:54-60). What happens at
the end of this narrative is what I want us to see.
There are
only two times in Luke-Acts where “the word of the Lord” is “remembered.”
At both times Peter is the one remembering, and the difference between the two
circumstances is the beautiful testimony to the glory of God’s grace in Jesus
Christ.
After Peter denies the Lord three
times, “the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word
of the Lord, how He had told him, ‘Before a rooster crows today, you will deny
Me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly” (22:61,62). The Lord’s word
is verified, and Peter is utterly broken. It is “the sorrow that is
according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to
salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians
7:10). It is not comfortable, fun, or exalting (by prideful or worldly
standards). But this is the “will of God” achieved through the mediation
of the Son. Remembering the Word of Christ in the midst of sin results here in
brokenness and repentance which leads to (because of the mediatiorial prayer of
the Son) salvation by unwavering faith. This is the first time “the word of
the Lord” is “remembered” by Peter in Luke-Acts. It’s a great
statement of grace. After all, Jesus taught the disciples, “he who denies Me
before men will be denied before the angels of God” (12:9). The only thing that
can save Peter is grace, and that is abundant through Jesus Christ. Soli
gratia.
As marvelous as that event of “remembering...the
word of the Lord” is, the second is even greater. Peter has returned to Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem
The second time Peter “remembered
the word of the Lord” it resulted in this: “When they heard this, they
quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the
Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life’” (11:18).
God is glorified, and the Kingdom of God
Behold the grace of God: the first time Peter remembers the
word of the Lord, it brings him to bitter tears; the second time Peter remembers
the word of the Lord, it is as he is being used to bring salvation to the
nations.
Jesus is
still praying for His people:
- “Christ Jesus is He Who died,
yes, rather Who was raised, Who is at the right hand of God, Who also
intercedes for us” (Romans 8:34).[3]
- “...Jesus...because He continues forever, holds
His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever
those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make
intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high
priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted
above the heavens” (Hebrews 8:24-26).
It is the same prayer. We are sifted
in this world to show our faith to be true. Peter, who learned this lesson
recorded for this long age in the pages of holy Writ, teaches this principle to
us in his first letter: “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a
little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that
the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable,
even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and
honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6,7).
We are sifted and refined through
the constant saving prayer of the heavenly High Priest, Who uses even the wicked
adversary for our salvation and God’s ultimate glory. Also through His Word, we
do not stand alone or for ourselves. As our faith is hardened into the
unwavering might of the triumphant saint, we strengthen others, as well. By the
Father’s grace through the mediation of the Son, the Church grows not just in
spite of the adversary’s work, but instrumentally through it.
God is great, and His grace is
amazing.
 |
| Rembrandt (1606-1669), The Denial of Saint Peter (1660) |
[1] Christopher Ash, Job: The Wisdom
of the Cross (Wheaton , IL
[2] When we read the Kingdom parables of Jesus (and
their roots in passages like Ezekiel 31:6; Daniel 4:21), this is the message:
it starts small but spreads throughout the world.
[3] I was concerned with the “where” of the Holy Spirit
in my last post. We should give attention, as well, to the “where” of the Son
in our thinking, praying, singing, and theology. Without Him at the right hand
of the Father, His continuing work as High Priest and Mediator is ignored. This
is a serious problem, for it is from there that we “receive mercy and find
grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
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