Luke 22:32

Or to show that men being as nought, (as regards human nature, and the proneness of our minds to fall,) it is not meet that they should wish to be above their brethren. Therefore passing by all the others, He comes to Peter, who was the chief of them, saying, But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. Marvel then at the superabundance of the Divine forbearance: lest He should cause a disciple to despair, before the crime was committed, He granted pardon, and again restored him to his Apostolic rank, saying, Strengthen thy brethren.

Admire the beautiful skill of the passage and the surpassing greatness of the divine gentleness! He fears that Peter's impending fall would lead the disciple to desperation, as though he would be expelled from the glories of the apostleship. Peter's former following of Christ would then lose its reward, because of his inability to bear the fear of death and his denying him. Christ therefore immediately fills him with good hope. He grants him the confident assurance that he will be counted worthy of the promised blessings and gather the fruits of faithfulness. He says, "When you are converted, strengthen your brothers." O what great and incomparable kindness! The affliction of faithlessness had not yet made the disciple ill, and already he has received the medicine of forgiveness.

We have been informed by Crementius the sub-deacon, who came to us from you, that the blessed father Cyprian has for a certain reason withdrawn; "in doing which he acted quite rightly, because he is a person of eminence, and because a conflict is impending," which God has allowed in the world, for the sake of cooperating with His servants in their struggle against the adversary, and was, moreover, willing that this conflict should show to angels and to men that the victor shall be crowned, while the vanquished shall in himself receive the doom which has been made manifest to us. Since, moreover, it devolves upon us who appear to be placed on high, in the place of a shepherd, to keep watch over the flock; if we be found neglectful, it will be said to us, as it was said to our predecessors also, who in such wise negligent had been placed in charge, that "we have not sought for that which was lost, and have not corrected the wanderer, and have not bound up that which was broken, but have eaten their milk, and been clothed with their wool; " and then also the Lord Himself, fulfilling what had been written in the law and the prophets, teaches, saying, "I am the good shepherd, who lay down my life for the sheep. But the hireling, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf scatter-eth them." To Simon, too, He speaks thus: "Lovest thou me? He answered, I do love Thee. He saith to him, Feed my sheep." We know that this saying arose out of the very circumstance of his withdrawal, and the rest of the disciples did likewise.

(Hom. 82. in Matt.) Now He said not, 'I have granted,' but I have prayed. For He speaks humbly as approaching unto His Passion, and that He may manifest His human nature. For He who had spoken not in supplication, but by authority, Upon this rock I will build my Church, and I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, (Matt. 16:18.) how should He have need of prayer that He might stay one agitated soul? He does not say, "I have prayed that thou deny not," but that thou do not abandon thy faith.

For albeit thou art for a time shaken, yet thou boldest stored up, a seed of faith; though the spirit has shed its leaves in temptation, yet the root is firm. Satan then seeks to harm thee, because he is envious of my love for thee, but notwithstanding that I have prayed for thee, thou shalt fall. Hence it follows, And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. As if He says, After that thou hast wept and repented thy denial of Me, strengthen thy brethren, for I have deputed thee to be the head of the Apostles. For this befits thee who art with Me, the strength and rock of the Church. And this must be understood not only of the Apostles who then were, but of all the faithful who were about to be, even to the end of the world; that none of the believers might despair, seeing that Peter though an Apostle denied his Lord, yet afterwards by penitence obtained the high privilege of being the Ruler (ἐπιστάτης) of the world.

Second, with respect to the demonstration of defense, he adds: I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. Here the Lord prayed, not that Peter would not fall, but that he would not fail, because, although he fell, he rose again, according …

The entire firmness of the Church itself principally flows from the solidity of the one Rock and of the one Peter, who is the Vicar of the Rock; as a sign of which thing it was said to Peter: And upon this rock I will …

"And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Just as I (he says) protected your faith by praying that it may not fail when Satan tempts, so you must remember to strengthen and comfort weaker brothers by the example of your repentance, lest they …

As if to say, As I by prayer protected your faith that it should not fail, so do you remember to sustain the weaker brethren, that they despair not of pardon.

He speaks thus according to His humanity, for, as God, what need had He to pray? I, He says, prayed "that your faith should not fail." Although you will be shaken somewhat, the seeds of faith will be preserved in you, and although the spirit …

But I have prayed for thee - Who wilt be in the greatest danger of all: that thy faith fail not - Altogether: and when thou art returned - From thy flight, strengthen thy brethren -- all that are weak in faith; perhaps scandalized at thy fall.

But I have prayed for thee,....

I have prayed for thee - From the natural forwardness and impetuosity of thy own spirit, thou wilt be brought into the most imminent danger; but I have supplicated for thee, that thy faith may not utterly fail - εκλειπῃ, from εκ, out, and λειπω, I fail, to fall utterly or entirely off. Peter’s faith did fail, but not utterly: he did fall, but he did not fall off, apostatize, or forsake his Master and his cause finally, as Judas did.

But I have prayed--have been doing it already. for thee--as most in danger. (See on Lu 22:61, 62.) fail not--that is, entirely; for partially it did fail. converted--brought back afresh as a penitent disciple. strengthen, &c.--that is, make use of thy bitter experience for the fortifying of thy tempted brethren.

2:1-6), whom he solicited and obtained that he might sift him as wheat, insinuating as "the accuser of the brethren" (Re 12:10), that he would find chaff enough in his religion, if indeed there was any wheat at all. you--not Peter only, but them all.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

PETER was to be sifted, so our Lord warned him. And Satan was to operate with the sieve. Satan had an intense desire to destroy Peter—indeed, he would like to destroy all the chosen of God—and therefore he desired to sift him as wheat, in the hope that he would be blown away with the husks and the chaff. To see a child of God perish would bring to the Evil One a malicious joy, for he would have wounded the heart of God.

We learn, from these verses — what a fearful enemy the devil is to believers. We read that "the Lord said: Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." He was near Christ's flock — though they saw him not. He was longing to accomplish their ruin — though they knew it not. The wolf does not crave the blood of the lamb — more than the devil desires the destruction of souls! The personality, activity, and power of the devil are not sufficiently thought of by Christians.

We learn, from these verses — what a fearful enemy the devil is to believers. We read that "the Lord said: Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." He was near Christ's flock — though they saw him not. He was longing to accomplish their ruin — though they knew it not. The wolf does not crave the blood of the lamb — more than the devil desires the destruction of souls! The personality, activity, and power of the devil are not sufficiently thought of by Christians. This is he who brought sin into the world at the beginning, by tempting Eve. This is he who is described in the book of Job as "going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it." This is he whom our Lord calls "the prince of this world," a "murderer," and a "liar." This is he whom Peter compares to a "roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour ." This is he whom John speaks of as "the accuser of the brethren." This is he who is ever working evil in the churches, catching away good seed from the hearts of hearers, sowing tares amid the wheat, stirring up persecutions, suggesting false doctrines, and fomenting divisions. The world is a snare to the believer. The flesh is a burden and a clog. But there is no enemy so dangerous, as that restless, invisible, subtle, experienced enemy — the devil! If we believe the Bible, let us not be ashamed to believe that there is a devil. It is a dreadful proof of the hardness and blindness of unconverted men — that they can jest and speak lightly of Satan. If we profess to have any real religion, let us be on our guard against the devil's evil schemes. The enemy who overthrew David and Peter, and assaulted Christ Himself — is not an enemy to be taken lightly. He is very subtle . He has studied the heart of man for six thousand years. He can approach us under the garb of an "angel of light."

PETER was to be sifted, so our Lord warned him. And Satan was to operate with the sieve. Satan had an intense desire to destroy Peter—indeed, he would like to destroy all the chosen of God—and therefore he desired to sift him as wheat, in the hope that he would be blown away with the husks and the chaff. To see a child of God perish would bring to the Evil One a malicious joy, for he would have wounded the heart of God. If ever the fallen spirit can be happy, he would derive happiness from defeating the Grace of God and robbing the Lord Jesus of those whom He bought with His blood. "Satan has desired to have you"—it would be a satisfaction to him to have a Believer in his power. He was anxious to get Peter into his clutches, to give him as tremendous a shaking as he could manage. If Satan knows, as he no doubt does, concerning any one Believer that he cannot quite destroy him, then he is especially anxious to worry him. If he cannot devour the chosen, he would at least defile them—if he cannot ruin their souls, he would break their quiet. As the Revised Version puts it, Satan even asks God to have them that he may sift them as wheat. This is a curious statement, for it seems from it that the devil can pray. And that his petition may be granted him. The margin has it, "Satan has obtained you by asking." The Lord may grant the request of the devil, himself, and yet he would not prove thereby that he had any love towards him. The Lord's wisdom may grant Satan's desire and in the very act overthrow his evil power. Let us not, then, stake our faith in the Lord's love upon His giving us the precise answer we desire, for what He gives to Satan He may see fit to deny to those whom He loves and He may do so because He loves them. It is a fact that the Evil One is permitted to test the precious metal of God's treasury.

SATAN has a deadly hatred towards all good men and they may rest assured that somewhere or other, he will meet them on their way to the Celestial City. John Bunyan, in his immortal allegory, placed him in one particular spot and described him as Apollyon straddling the road and swearing by his infernal den that the pilgrim should go no further, but that then and there he would spill poor Christian's soul. But the encounter with Apollyon does not happen in the same place to all pilgrims.

SATAN has a deadly hatred towards all good men and they may rest assured that somewhere or other, he will meet them on their way to the Celestial City. John Bunyan, in his immortal allegory, placed him in one particular spot and described him as Apollyon straddling the road and swearing by his infernal den that the pilgrim should go no further, but that then and there he would spill poor Christian's soul. But the encounter with Apollyon does not happen in the same place to all pilgrims. I have known some of them assailed by him most fiercely at the outset of their march to Zion. Their first days as Christians have been truly terrible to them by reason of the Satanic attacks they have had to endure, but, afterwards, when the devil has left them, angels have ministered to them and they have had years of peace and joy. You remember that in the case of our Savior, no sooner was He baptized than He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. In like manner, there are those whose fiercest trials from the adversary come at the beginning of their public ministry. Others meet with their greatest conflicts in middle life when, perhaps, they are too apt to think themselves secure against the assaults of Satan and to fancy that their experience and their knowledge will suffice to preserve them against his wiles. I know some, like Martin Luther, in whose voyage of life, the middle passage has been full of storm and tempest, and they have scarcely known what it was to have a moment's rest during all that period. Then there have been others, the first part of whose career has been singularly calm.

That thy faith fail not - The word “faith,” here, seems to be used in the sense of religion, or attachment to Christ, and the words “fail not” mean “utterly fail” or fail altogether - that is, apostatize. It is true that the “courage” of Peter failed; it is true that he had not that immediate confidence in Jesus and reliance on him which he had before had; but the prayer of Jesus was that he might not altogether apostatize from the faith. God heard Jesus “always” Joh 11:42; it follows, therefore, that every prayer which he ever offered was answered; and it follows, as he asked here for a specific thing, that that thing was granted; and as he prayed that Peter’s faith might not utterly fail, so it follows that there was no time in which Peter was not really a pious man. Far as he wandered, and grievously as he sinned, yet he well knew that Jesus was the Messiah. He “did know” the man; and though his fears overcame him and led him to aggravated sin, yet the prayer of Christ was prevalent, and he was brought to true repentance. When thou art converted - The word “converted” means turned, changed, recovered. The meaning is, when thou art turned from this sin, when thou art recovered from this heinous offence, then use “your” experience to warn and strengthen those who are in danger of like sins. A man may be “converted or turned” from any sin, or any evil course. He is “regenerated” but once - at the beginning of his Christian life; he may be “converted” as often as he falls into sin. Strengthen thy brethren - Confirm them, warn them, encourage them. They are in continual danger, also, of sinning. Use your experience to warn them of their danger, and to comfort and sustain them in their temptations. And from this we learn: 1. That one design of permitting Christians to fall into sin is to show their own weakness and dependence on God; and, 2. […]