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Luke 22:31–34
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (vv. 31–32).
During a funeral for a Christian woman, her widowed husband stood up to give the eulogy. After narrating some of the history of their relationship, the widower talked about some of the biblical truths that had comforted her most in the final months of her life. He said that she kept coming back again and again to this precious truth: Jesus prays for His people.
The book of Hebrews emphasizes the current work of Jesus, our Great High Priest, in making intercession for those who draw near to God through Him (Heb. 7:25). We find another key text on this subject in today’s passage, wherein Jesus promises to pray for Peter.
Our Lord’s promise occurs in the context of His predicting that Peter would deny Him after His arrest. Peter could not believe that he would ever deny the Lord, asserting that he would go with Him to death if need be (Luke 22:31–34). We know, of course, that Jesus’ prediction came true and that Peter did in fact deny knowing Christ when acknowledging Him might put the disciple in danger (vv. 54–62). Peter’s confidence in himself serves as a warning for us not to overestimate ourselves but to continue humbly relying on God and not the strength of our faith. The church father Cyril of Alexandria comments, “Let us not think highly of ourselves, even if we see ourselves greatly distinguished for our virtues.”
Peter did go on to deny the Lord, but his story did not end there. Jesus would later restore him to ministry, and he would go on to preach the gospel, write two letters of the New Testament, and, if early church tradition is correct, even suffer martyrdom for the faith. Why? The ultimate answer can be only that Jesus prayed for him. When Satan demanded to have Peter, Jesus responded with a prayer that though he might stumble in his faith for a time, he would not fall utterly and finally away from salvation (vv. 31–32). Peter would persevere because of Jesus’ prayers for him.
Christ’s prayers comfort us because we know that without these prayers, we also would have no hope of remaining in faith until the end. Because Jesus prays for His people perfectly, all those united to Him by faith cannot lose their salvation. Matthew Henry writes: “It is owing to the mediation and intercession of Jesus Christ that the faith of his disciples, though sometimes sadly shaken, yet is not sunk. If they were left to themselves, they would fail; but they are kept by the power of God and the prayer of Christ.”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Thanks be to God, the Lord Jesus Christ prays for His people unceasingly and perfectly. Because He is praying for us, we know that we who have trusted in Him alone cannot fall away from salvation fully and finally. Although we must continue believing in Jesus, we put our confidence not in our own efforts but in His atoning death and effectual intercession for us.
For further study
- Numbers 11:1–3
- Romans 8:26–27
The bible in a year
- Lamentations 1–2
- Hebrews 7:11–28
- Lam. 3–Ezekiel 3
- Hebrews 8