Strengthened

Strengthened

Read: Luke 22:31-34

“When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Luke 22:32

“We forget that God is a specialist; He is well able to work our failures into His plans.”

—Erwin Lutzer

IN WORD Jesus assumes failure on Peter’s part. He does not say, “If you need to turn back . . .” He says “when.” It’s a given. Peter will fall.

But also notice that Jesus assumes Peter’s repentance. It, too, is a given. There is no question here of whether Peter will turn back. It will happen. And there is an instruction for after his return that probably could not have been given before his fall: “Strengthen your brothers.” In denying Jesus, grieving over his own treachery and fickleness, and coming back to Jesus with repentance, there is something different about him. Peter, literally “the rock,” is in no position to strengthen his brothers before his failure; he is the epitome of instability. But afterward? These are his orders from Jesus. Peter has grown into his name.

Why? What is different between the pre-denial Peter and the post-repentance Peter? Perhaps it is that the one who is honest about his failures is the one who can be strongest in his faith. It was Peter who ran to the tomb three days later when the other disciples did not believe the report of the women who had just been there (Luke 24:11-12). It was Peter whom Jesus told to feed His sheep (John 21:15-19). It was Peter whose Holy Spirit anointing made him the preacher of Pentecost (Acts 2:14). And it was Peter who, so we’re told, hung on his own cross—upside down. Knowing his weakness, God gave him the strength to strengthen others.

IN DEED We are apt to think that failure disqualifies us from serving God well. To the contrary, sometimes it is the only thing that does qualify us. It removes any pretense of self-reliance. Like a phoenix rising, we ascend from the ashes of our own undoing, testifying to the resurrecting power of God. From failure to forgiveness, weakness to strength, death to life—it’s God’s way. Remember that the next time you despair over your failures.