Luke 22: 31-32 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Simon can be such a blockhead. That’s what I love about him. He gives me hope. In this passage, Jesus and his disciples are finishing up the Passover meal, the Last Supper. While anticipation of his impending suffering and death weighs heavy on him, his friends, with a high degree of emotional intelligence, argue about who will be the greatest in the new kingdom Jesus is setting up. Jesus then has a few words for them about how messed up this is. I can imagine Peter, this strong, proud, serious-minded fisherman, head down, listening to what Jesus is saying.

Our passage begins toward the end of this little talk. Simon, Simon pay attention! Things are going to get ugly; you will all be shaken to your core. Don’t worry though, my prayers go with you and your faith won’t fail. But you will fail. You’ll turn away from me. Here, in my imagination, Peter jumps up, offended that Jesus would think he’d deny him. He’s loyal, strong, and ready to die for this man!

But sure enough, later, we see all Peter’s natural strengths betray him and he denies ever knowing Jesus. Then, it says, he “wept bitterly.” Everything Peter thought he brought to the table in this movement had evaporated, and he was left with his ridiculous self, alone, crying in the dark. I appreciate this because I’ve been there. I’ve relied on my strengths in God’s business – kind of surfed along on them - then fallen on my face.

The hope for us is, that though we have a perfect Savior, we don’t have a perfect leader of the church in Peter. The funny thing, and really the beautiful thing is, that all the gospels attest to Peter’s idiocy. They shine a spotlight on it, perhaps because it is so central to what it means to serve in God’s church. Jesus’s prediction that Peter would turn back proved true. Peter returned - no doubt with a lot more humility and less reliance on his own strengths – and eventually “strengthen(ed) his brothers”. I think God smiled kindly, with great love and compassion on Peter as he wept. I think that’s how God is. May we remember that, when we’re alone, crying in the dark over our foolishness.

Patty Hansen