To look around most homes, it doesn't take long to see if
the right tool is being used for the right job. When I had a sharpening business I could
tell pretty quickly how a knife was being used.
Those familiar dents in the blade can tell that a knife was being used
as a screwdriver; or sometimes a can opener – I think you know what I
mean. Those recognizable rounded edges
to some of the bolts in your vehicle tell me that you have been using pliers or
vice-grips to take that nut off instead of a wrench!
Don't lose heart! You
are not the only person that using the wrong tool to do the job! God constantly is doing that? Sometimes it make little sense. But there are many times when you'd like to
say to God, "Why did you use that to do this?" For example:
&
Why would you use family rivalry, attempted
murder, slavery, false accusations, imprisonment, famine – to save a family and
thereby save a nation – so that that nation could be the means to bring into
the world a Savior? Why?
&
Why would you use the most treacherous and
barbarous of nations to chastise your people – to eventually become a world
empire so that at just the right time Your Son could be born in the right place
and under the right circumstances?
&
Why would you use the shame and reproach of a
pregnant unmarried teenager to be the human mother of the Messiah?
&
Why would you use the betrayal of one of Your
disciples, the injustice of the Jews and the torturous devices of the Roman
Empire to bring salvation to all who will believe? Why?
About 2000 years ago, it was a night that
would never end. It was a night of the
unusual. It was a night of God bringing
beauty out of ashes. Just think about
it:
·
From the backdrop of a brutal, fraudulent plot
to murder Jesus, we find Him quietly enjoying a meal with His disciples.
·
From the self-centered squabble about which
disciple would be the greatest in the Kingdom, Jesus arose, God's Son, the
Christ – and washed their feet as a common slave would.
·
From the horror of slavery and a meal eaten in a
great hurry, Jesus showed His disciples of the eternal and glorious plan of God
saving sinners like us.
·
From the scary announcement of His departure
that brought great fear He told His disciples to that their need for Him would
somehow be met in their love for one another.
Here enters Peter!
"Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You
going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will
follow later.” . . . Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right
now? I will lay down my life for You.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your
life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny
Me three times." "“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded
permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith
may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your
brothers.” But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison
and to death!” And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow
today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”" (John 13:36-38, Luke 22:31-34, NASB95)
The dialogue is not unusual.
When someone says that they are going somewhere, it's not unusual to
ask,, "Where are you going?" Jesus
doesn't answer him directly but simply says, "Where I am going you cannot
follow -- now?" Why did our Lord
skirt the question? Why does He always do that?
Jesus always had a unique ability to answer the real question below the
stated question. By his very words Peter
asked, "Why can't I follow you? I
will die for you." "Will you
Peter?" "Die for Me? No deny me is what you will do, Peter." Now out of this fleshly bravado; this carnal
optimism; this presumptuous foolishness comes a flower. Note the response of Jesus:
1. They
are clothed in the beauty of intimacy:
Simon, Simon. This is a term of
endearment – of deep love and affection.
2. He
told them all of a threat. The threat
includes all the disciples: "The word “you” is plural. Satan had asked
permission to trouble all the disciples.
The NASB says that Satan has demanded[1]. I think that is an unfortunate translation.
It is better understood as "begging by asking."[2] Notice that Satan has no power to act outside
the area God allows him."[3]
3.
What
did Satan ask for? Answer: "as
a farmer does when he separates wheat from the husks."[4] "In other words, “Satan
is seeking to shake you all violently, as one does wheat, to cause you to fall.”
What is the metaphor of our Lord
communicating? It is like Job. Satan wants to prove to Jesus that His
disciples are all chaff and no reality.
It is like he is saying, "Give me a shot and them and I will prove
that they are all like Judas."
4. Now Christ returns to Peter. The wording of our Saviour goes like this:
"“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like
wheat. 32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon."[5] What did Christ pray? "That Peter's faith would not
fail." For every true child of God
we are all like a head of wheat. A part
of each of us is chaff. But a part of
each of us is true genuine faith. That
faith is bolstered, not so much by self-effort and a resolve to live
right. That faith is ultimately
bolstered by Christ's intercessory prayer ministry.
5. Would Christ's prayer be
answered? Note: "And you,
when once you have turned again . . .." When Peter has "turned
back." When he has ἐπιστρέφω [epistrepho /ep·ee·stref·o/], turned back to
the love and obedience of God. It is a
sure thing. What is Peter to do? "Strengthen his brothers."
Here our Lord shows us again that He is in the business of
bringing beauty out of ashes – flowers out of the desert. He will take the violent and disturbing
shaking of Peter to bring out a man that will turn the world upside down (Acts
17:6). Peter who was so shaken that he
denied the Lord Jesus, stood one day before thousands, filled with the Spirit,
preaching Christ.
The story of Easter is:
- Life from death
- Salvation from sin
- Hope from failure
- Mercy from rebellion
God is in the business of using the wrong tools to do the
right thing. You might be reading this and feel that you're the wrong tool.
God can't use you. You have failed
too miserably. You have let Him and
others down. God knows better. Or you might be facing the biggest
spiritual battle in your life. You have
already said to God, "Why are you letting this happen to me?" This is what He says, "I am praying
that your faith will not fail. When you
turn around (not if) …. Strengthen the Church."
[1] ἐξαιτέω [exaiteomai /ex·ahee·teh·om·ahee/] v. Middle voice from 1537 and 154; TDNT 1:194; GK
1977; AV translates as “desire” once. 1 to ask from, demand of. 1a to
ask or beg for one’s self, to ask that one be given up to one from the power of
another. 1b in a good sense,. 1b1 to beg one from another. 1b2
ask for the pardon. 1b3 the safety of some one. 1c in a bad sense. 1c1
for torture. 1c2 for punishment.
[2] First aorist indirect middle indicative of exaitew,
an old verb to beg something of one and (middle) for oneself. Only here in the
N.T. The verb is used either in the good or the bad sense, but it does not mean
here "obtained by asking" as margin in Revised Version has it.
[4]None. (.). Contemporary English Versionʼ
(electronic ed.) (Lk 22:31). :: ,.
[5]Tyndale House Publishers. (2004). Holy Bible : New
Living Translation. "Text edition"--Spine. (2nd ed.) (Lk
22:31-32). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
