OR 10
October 10
Luke 22:31-35. Christ tells Peter he has prayed for him.
What a view this passage gives us of the malice of Satan. That wicked spirit desired to have all the apostles, for Jesus said, "Satan has desired to have you," not Peter only, but the others also. No wonder that he desired to have those men who were to spread the Savior's name throughout the world. He succeeded in obtaining one of them as his prey, even Judas; but his place was afterwards filled up by another apostle (Matthias, Acts 1).
Can we doubt that Satan still desires to tempt the servants of Christ? If we are his servants, he longs to destroy us. He goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8.) These words are the words of one who had himself been rescued from the jaws of the lion. It was Christ who delivered him. He knows all the designs of the enemy. When he sees any of his sheep in danger, he does not flee, but he stays to deliver them. He watched with tender care over all the apostles during their season of temptation, but especially over Peter, who seems to have been the most exposed to the enemy. He had already prayed for him; now he warns him; soon he takes him to the garden with him, and there bids him pray for himself; and even when standing before his judges, does not forget him, but turns and looks at him.
Such is the care Jesus still takes of his people. Were he less watchful, no soul would ever reach the heavenly fold. If we do not fall into some fatal sin, it is because his eye is always upon us. No little child is so dependent upon the watchfulness of its nurse, as we are upon that of Jesus.
Satan desired to sift the apostles as corn is sifted in a sieve, when it is thrown up in the air, and when the chaff is blown away. He hoped that Judas was not the only hypocrite among them; for Satan cannot search the heart. He suspected Job of being a hypocrite, but he was mistaken. He suspected Peter, but in this also he was mistaken. It seems Satan is allowed to try the saints, but these trials do them good, and make them brighter Christians afterwards. Peter loved the Lord before he denied him; but he loved him far better afterwards. "That kind upbraiding glance" could never be erased from his memory; that affectionate message, ("Tell his disciples and Peter;" ) that early meeting with him alone, (for he was seen by Peter or Cephas before he was seen by the twelve,) (1 Cor. 15:5,) were tokens of forgiving grace beyond all human thought.
How it binds the hearts of believers to their Lord, to remember the various instances in which their backslidings have been healed! Is there anyone here who, like Peter, has given himself to the Lord, and who yet, like Peter, has been unfaithful? Do you not feel your heart glow with love when you think of the Lord's free forgiveness of your ungrateful wanderings? What does Jesus expect of his restored backsliders? He expects that they should strengthen their brethren. He said to Peter, "When you are converted strengthen your brethren." By the term "converted," he meant "turned back again" into the way of righteousness. David declared, after his grievous fall, "I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall be converted unto you."
It encourages a wanderer to return to hear another wanderer say, "The Lord has forgiven me." All the apostles must have felt afraid to meet their Lord again, after having forsaken him; but when they heard Peter say, "I did worse than you, I denied him; yet he has forgiven me; I know it by the look he has cast upon me," would they not all be strengthened by such words? We ought not to be ashamed to own our faults to our brethren; but we ought rather to take delight in magnifying the riches of Christ's forgiving love. If we have obtained mercy, why should not others also? What Jesus has done for us is a pattern of what he will do for all, who, like us, shall believe in him to life everlasting. (1 Tim. 1:16.)