City Life Starter

Written by Scott Fiddler

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” 33 Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” 34 Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

Luke 22:31–34

Reflection

When Jesus told Peter that Satan had demanded permission to sift him like wheat, it likely provoked a vivid, violent image in Peter’s mind. Today, when we hear the word “sift” we think of sifting through papers or perhaps sifting flour. Not so for a first century Israelite. 

Sifting wheat in first century Israel was a two step process. First was the beating of the bundle of wheat with a stick to break the outer shell (chaff) off the kernel. Then came the violent shaking to separate the chaff, straw, and dust from the kernels of wheat.

Jesus was telling Peter that Satan was going to be beating on him and violently shaking him—so much so that Jesus was going to have to pray Peter would survive it without losing his faith

Peter didn’t doubt Jesus’ warning about what was going to happen; instead Peter suggested Jesus need not be concerned because he would never waver. Few statements demonstrate so clearly Peter’s fleshly confidence, his self-sufficiency. In short, Peter was more confident in his strength than in his dependence on God.

Then Jesus gives Peter the more devastating news—that he would be shown not to be the strong, self-sufficient leader he thought he was. For Peter, this would have struck at the very core of who he was. In a very real sense, Jesus was telling Peter that Peter was not the man he thought he was, and he would be finding that out very soon. Such are the makings of an identity crises.

What Peter didn’t understand at the time—what we all often fail to understand in real time — is that the very things on which we base our identity are often the shell the Lord wants to break so that who He has called us to be can shine forth.

For Peter, this testing, happening within just a few hours of Jesus’ warning, was life-changing. It moved Peter from confidence in his willpower ultimately to a firm confidence in Jesus. Peter’s self-sufficient delusion would be lost in the beating and shaking.

And there is this: When Jesus told Peter about the sifting to come, Jesus called him by his given name, “Simon,” but when Jesus gave Peter the really devastating news that Peter was not the man he thought he was, he called him, “Peter.” 

“Peter” was the name Jesus had given him, a name that meant “the rock.” So, in the same breath that Jesus told Peter he was not the man he thought he was, he was reminding Peter that through the beating and shaking he was becoming the man Jesus was calling him to be. 

Application

Jesus’ handling of Peter in this brief exchange reminds me of what David said of the Lord: “Your gentleness makes me great” (Psalm 18:35). In a real sense, we are all Peter. We all have things in our lives from which we draw our confidence and identity that are other than Jesus.

If we continue to follow Jesus faithfully, it should not surprise us that there may come a day when the Lord allows those things to be shaken and broken, so that the only true foundation, which is Jesus Christ, can remain (1 Cor. 3:11). When that time comes, it’s nice to know Jesus will be there gently reminding us that what is happening is happening so we can become who He has called us to be.

Prayer

Lord, thank You for Your gentleness that makes us great because it makes us trust more in You. Amen.