June 11, 2023

Luke 22:31-38

³¹ “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.³² But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” ³³ But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”

³⁵ Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered. ³⁶ He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. ³⁷ It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”

³⁸ The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.” “That’s enough!” he replied.

Read Luke 22:31-34

1. “…sift you as wheat” is an interesting image. What do you think it means? What would it look like for Satan actually to ‘sift them as wheat’?
2. What are the implications of the fact that Satan has to ask for permission to do that?
3. Jesus says, “I have prayed for you” to which Simon essentially responds, “Why? I’m good. I don’t need you to pray for me.” Discuss all the ways this response is inappropriate? What does it reveal about Peter?
4. In what ways do you occasionally follow Peter’s example and trust in your own strength?
5. Put yourself in Peter’s shoes. How would you respond to Jesus’ prediction?

Read Luke 22:35-37

1. What do you take away from these verses?
2. Jesus gives his disciples different instructions than he has given them before. Why? Do you think this disoriented them? Why or why not?
3. Jesus claims he will fulfill the messianic prophecy and be ‘numbered with the transgressors.’ Discuss the significance of that claim.

Read Luke 22:38

1. This is an unusual and difficult verse, to be sure. What do you make of it?