Peter's Challenge

"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired you, that he may sift you as wheat:  But I have prayed for you, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.  And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison and to death.  And he said , I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me."  Luke 22:31-34

Peter's unique destiny is still a mystery to him.  Most certainly he has a new name but he does not yet know the depth of its reality.  The new name portents unexpected and decisive events that reshape the moral vision of the one so called.  Peter does not know it yet, but he has been chosen for an encounter that will forever change his self-understanding.  Indeed his self-understanding will be rocked to the foundations.

The Iesous knows Peter.  He does not know Peter in a casual manner, and neither does he know Peter from a flood of self disclosures initiated by Peter.  The Iesous knows Peter completely and exhaustively.  There is nothing about Peter that he does not know.  His knowledge of Peter is prior to Peter's very existence.  Being know by God in this manner is to be permeated by His mercy too.

The direct statement to Peter by the Iesous is shocking, and the malevolent intent of the Satan is not hidden.  The Satan had asked to have Peter back for himself in order to pierce him through with calamity upon calamity.  The interrogations of the great Opposer (The Satan) are without equal.  (See the Job Encounter).  His examination methods are ruthless and  cunning, but exposure to them are limited by the mercy of God.

The Iesous lets Peter know that he has prayed that his faith does not fail under the potentially shattering encounter that he will experience under the crushing examination of the Opposer.  The sincere but  naive arrogance of Peter cannot capture the import of what he has just been told.  He speaks to the Iesous with a bravado founded upon an untested foundation.  His words are alive with grandiloquent nonsense.  He cannot possible know where the journey with the Iesous will take him.

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