"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But

Question

I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." We read this in Luke 22:31-32. As we continue to read through this chapter, Jesus is taken prisoner by the chief priests, captains of the temple, and elders and brought to the high priest's house. Peter followed afar off. Peter comes to warm himself by the fire near the judgment hall and denies Christ 3 different times when he is identified as being a follower of Jesus.
Remember the Lord for Peter that his faith would not fail, but Peter denied the Lord 3 times. Can anyone explain this?

Answer 1

Ahhh the contradictions of the Bible.

its a BOOK

Answer 2

His faith did not fail, if fact when it was all done Peter's faith was strengthened, and he certainly grew in faith becasue of that incident. He would be much slower to be so dogmatic that he would never deny Jesus after that. We do not grow in faith when everything is going perfect, but when we face trials. Read what Peter said in his epistle.

I Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

Where do you think Peter got this insight from, if it was not from the events of that night?

Answer 3

Peter denied Jesus thats absolutely correct but he did'nt lost his faith. He belived in God continually but he just denied the Lord in a situation of fear.( We also sometimes denie the Lord even without thinking about it but when we realize we are feeling a deep Repentance) And like that Peter was if You continue to read you will find out that Peter remembered what Jesus say after the cocks sound so he ran out and cried Bitterly because of a deep repantance. Afterwards he was stronger in the Lord Jesus as ever before even when there Crucified Peter he beg them to put him upside down to the cross because he is not worthy at all to hang like his master hang. So I hope you understand.

Answer 4

Jesus knows everything that we will do and say, even before we do it. Even though Peter said that he would not deny him, Jesus knew that Peter was a man of weak faith, and knew that when faced with pressure, that he would cave in. If you also look at Judas, Jesus even knew that he would betray him to the religious leaders. Judas when confronted with his mistakes went and committed suicide, while Peter, on the other hand, when Jesus looked upon him in the courtyard, ran away in tears and repented. After the resurrection, and prior to the assention into heaven, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him, and told him to feed and take care of his sheep, which was those who would come to believe in him.

Answer 5

Peter was converted when he beleived. When did Peter believe? I imagine it may have been after the cross. Peter eventually did not lose his faith, he kept it. Weakness in faith is a human thing. Jesus knew that Peter would suffer from it and asked for God's strenght. Peter went to heaven.

Answer 6

Ultimately, Peter's faith did not fail. Although he denied Christ 3 times, it just showed that he was a fallible human. However, after Christ's resurrection and ascension, Peter went on to become instrumental in the formation of the early church, and his faith was strengthened because they ended up crucifying him upside-down. He fearlessly went to a terrible death, whereas before it was fear of being executed with Christ that caused him to deny his Lord. His faith was strengthened.

Answer 7

Peter was afraid... frightened for his own life.. Peter just knew he would be busted and slammed in jail for following Jesus.He lied and covered his butt. He had no doubt about what the Romans were going to do and he Knew that Pilot was a heartless beast. He lied to save himself.
He denied Jesus. Not god. They are not the same guy.

Answer 8

Peter is a fine example of man and his impulse. He believed in his heart but thought with his flesh. Fear is powerful and once he died from the flesh he was reborn in the spirit and moved in power of God. We all want to do right and find ourselves often where Peter was. He shows there is hope if we grow with God and stay on the path. What Satan meant for evil God used for Glory.

Answer 9

Peter succumbed to the age old sin of self pride, but was totally humbled by the crucixion of his Lord and Master.

Answer 10

In ancient Jewish tradition Satan is simply an angel doing the work that God assigned to Satan to do.

The word Satan means challenger. With the idea of Satan challenging us, or tempting if you will. This description sees Satan as the angel who is the embodiment of man's challenges. This idea of Satan works closely with God as an integral part of Gods plan for us. His job is to make choosing good over evil enough of a challenge so that it becomes clear to us that there can be only one meaningful or logical choice.

Contrast this to Christianity, which sees Satan as God's opponent. In Jewish thought, the idea that there exists anything capable of setting itself up as God's opponent would be considered polytheistic or setting up the devil to be an equally powerful polarity to god or a demigod.

Oddly, proof for The Christian satan/devil mythology is supposedly found in the ancient Jewish texts that were borrowed to create the bible. One can’t help but wonder how Christians came up with such a fantastically different interpretation of Gods assistant Satan in their theology.

Other hints about Satan’s role in human relations can be seen if you look at the name Lucifer. It’s meaning in the original tongue translates as Light bearer or light bringer. Essentially the bringer of enlightenment. The temptations of the Satan idea bring all of us eventually into Gods light. Hardly the Evil entity of Christian mythology.

Love and blessings
don