Matthew 26:30-35, Mark 14:26-31, and Luke 22:31-38
With today’s readings about Jesus foretelling Peter’s denial, the Synoptic writers end the Last Supper. The next readings in these three Gospels have Jesus and the disciples at Gethsemane. John also covers Peter’s denial at the end of his chapter 13. I commented on that yesterday. Although the Synoptic Gospels have the Last Supper ended, we still have four chapters in John before we leave that Upper Room.
At this Last Supper we have Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial, together with the other ten also chiming in as to their willingness to suffer with Jesus. And these are people who have spent three years with Jesus (according to the best chronologies that scholars have determined) and will still fall away when the going gets tough. I just finished reading The Night of the Barbarians, a book written by a Slovak Cardinal who was imprisoned for his faith (1960-1968) during the Communist repression of Central and Eastern Europe (1948/50 – 1989). He spoke of hundreds, possibly even thousands of other bishops, priests, and nuns who were likewise arrested and questioned (including torture for some), deprived of their clerical offices, and sent away to labor camps and prisons. But he also spoke derisively of other priests and bishops who compromised their vows by going along with the Communist authorities and were eventually excommunicated by the Vatican. Are we any different? I suspect that very few of us have been tested so dramatically for our faith. We can be thankful for that, but even with that we need to remember to pray regularly for the persecuted church.
See also: October 27 / Matt. 26:30-35; October 28 / Mark 14:26-31; October 29 / Luke 22:31-38
I was stuck by the rendition in Luke. Jesus said to Peter that Satan demanded to have him, that he might sift him like wheat. Usually, we think of sifting wheat as separating the wheat from the chaff, i.e. the good from the bad. But here, I think it means separating what is useful to Satan from what is not useful to him. Pretty scary to have Satan demand to have someone.
But Jesus said that He prayed for Peter that his faith will not fail. But since we have free will, we have to cooperate with Jesus too, even if Jesus is interceding with the Father on our behalf. So, Peter will succumb to Satan’s temptation, and out of fear he will deny Jesus, just as Jesus predicted. But it is not over for Peter, because Jesus said that “when Peter turns back” he should strengthen his brothers like a child of God.
Peter doesn’t give in to Satan, but fights through failure to come back and make an enormous impact in God’s Kingdom.
I think that Jesus is interceding for all of us with the Father. All we have to do is to decide to fight our way back to Jesus’ side – even if Satan might be demanding us.