Summary
After Jesus eats his final meal with his closest followers, he announces to Peter that Satan desires to harass the disciples. Jesus predicts that Peter will betray him soon, which indeed Peter does after Jesus’ arrest. Jesus also instructs Peter to be a source of strength to the other disciples after all the imminent calamity.
Analysis
In all four Gospels, Jesus foretells that Peter will deny him and Peter indeed does so after Jesus’ arrest. It is a heartbreaking scene, as a discipleA disciple is a person who accepts and follows the pronouncements of a teacher. Jesus chose twelve disciples (also called "apostles" in some of the Gospels) to follow him and bear witness to his message Anyone who (like them) follows Jesus is engaged in Christian... who is otherwise depicted as so earnest fails to acknowledge that he knows Jesus when the heat is on (see Luke 22:54-62).
When Luke tells the story of Jesus predicting what Peter will do, there are some details that do not appear in other Gospels. Those details reveal ways in which Luke interprets the significance of what is happening with Peter. For one thing, Jesus declares that Satan intends to “sift” all of Jesus’ followers “like wheat.” A time of severe testing if not persecution is ahead. What will soon happen to Jesus is more than a political drama; Satan is also involved (see Luke 22:3, 53). That implies that Peter is no match for all that he will soon face in what is about to occur. However, Jesus also reassures Peter that he has prayed for him so that his faith may not be obliterated.
Another distinctive Lukan detail resides in Jesus’ command to Peter: “Once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Jesus implies here that Peter still has a role to play. Restoration will remain available to him. Jesus expects Peter to provide encouragement and leadership to the rest of the company of Jesus’ followers. This passage in Luke thus appears to anticipate the Acts of the Apostles, which begins with Peter acting as the most prominent figure in the group, if not its de facto leader (see Acts 1:15-26).
