Text: Luke 22:31-32

I. The Savior's Warning (31)

Only Luke notes Jesus' direct address to Peter, who represents the other disciples.

This takes place at the Last Supper on the eve of the Crucifixion.

The double direct use of Simon, Peter's other name, indicates the seriousness of the situation. Don't take the words and voice of Jesus for granted.

Satan names means adversary; one who opposes another in purpose or act; the prince of evil spirits, the inveterate adversary of God.

Hath Desired...excessively asked, requested

SIFT - to shake in a sieve; (fig) by inward agitation to try one's faith to the verge of overthrow.

The figure comes from the threshing floor. The head and stalk of wheat were beaten and trampled. Then that finer broken mass was placed in small quantities in a sieve. By the violent shaking of the sieve, the straw was tested for any wheat content in it. As the wind blew the chaff away, the valuable wheat emerged from the violent shaking. The hours just ahead were going to be trying hours for all the disciples. Peter above all the others was going to be shaken and sifted by the satanic violence of those hours.

"Who do men say, I, the Son of Man?" "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God!"

The Savior's Warning (31)

II. The Savior's Intercession (32a)

prayed - beseech; make request; make supplication

Jesus said, "YOU"

These verses single out Simon Peter from all the others. This continues the thought of greatness and service.

Simon was likely singled out because of the position he held among the Twelve.

In every listing of the Twelve in the N.T., he is named first. On almost every occasion in which a spokesman for the group was needed, he was that spokesman.

Preferred position always makes one most vulnerable to attack. Satan is always alert to the most effective way of accomplishing his purpose. To get a great one like Simon into his grasps and to use him as he was using Judas would be a real victory.

Satan would like to bring Peter to ruin and leave him in pieces, exposing his lack of faithfulness. The leader is a prime target, and Jesus knows it. The warning should make Peter alert.

FAITH - moral conviction; reliance upon Christ; constancy in profession; trust in Christ; the character of one who can be relied on.

FAIL - leave out; omit; pass by; quit; close; stop

The Savior's Intercession (32a)

III. The Savior's Exhortation (32b)

converted - cause to return; to bring back

to the love and obedience of God

to the love for the children

to turn back, come back; to return

These words embrace both failure and recovery. Simon would waver, but the Lord was fully certain that he would turn again to that same confidence in Christ and in himself as the servant of Christ.

Conclusion

Being on Satan's Hit List means that you are the prime target. But when the Master is praying for you He moves the target through His transforming power!

It is awesome to have Jesus pray for you! It is transforming to have the Master praying for you! Jesus prayed that Peter's faith would not fail!

Peter's faith did not fail because of the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit that was poured out at Pentecost that allowed Peter to preach the first sermon to the new church...

The same Peter who found warmth among the people around the community fire...

The same Peter who got fed up with the Q & A session and used some profane language...

The same Peter who was reminded of his future failures and denials with the crowing of a preaching rooster...

The same Peter that turned in his ordination papers…

The same Peter who dropped out of Emmanuel's seminary of discipleship... is now preaching under the power of the Holy Spirit as a transformed and converted Apostle...

Peter's faith did not fail and he fulfilled the Lord's promise in that he pens two epistles to encourage a group of saints in a place called Asia Minor that was once where he was about to give up.

Peter and the boys weren't the only ones on Satan's hit list...(Luke 22:1-2)