Simon Becomes Peter (Part 2)

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: ³² But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. (Luke 22:31-32)

Jesus will do whatever is necessary to see us restored even as He did for Peter. 

Jesus told Peter that He had prayed for him.  We can be assured that even now the great intercessor, Jesus is interceding for us, as He did for Peter during that time.

After  Jesus' death and resurrection, when the women met the angel at the tomb his message to the women was "But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you."  (Mark 16:7)  I find it interesting that the angel called him Peter, his new name and not Simon.  Jesus wanted them to make sure that Peter knew that the message was for him too, even though he had denied Jesus.

Shortly after that in an encounter recorded in John 21, Jesus asked Peter if He loved Him three times and told Peter to feed His sheep.  I believe in that encounter Peter was set free from his shame and guilt  and was restored by the love of the Lord Jesus. 

I believe that failure that exposed a weakness in Peter was a key event in Peter's life to prepare him for the important ministry role he had in the early church after he was restored.

Not long after that encounter with Jesus, by the sea, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and preached a sermon that resulted in 3,000 people being saved.  Later in Acts 5:15 was see that Peter walked in such an anointing that people were laid in the street so that when Peter walked by just his shadow would touch them and they would be healed. 

Peter had been admonished to strengthen his brothers after he was restored.  Jesus knew that Peter would come forth on the other side of this failure with something of substance that he could share with others.  Out of that experience Peter could now strengthen his brethren and feed the sheep in the Lord's pasture as one of the undershepherds of the Great and Good Shepherd (1 Peter 2 & 5)

Our healing and deliverance is not just for ourselves, but so we can then go and minister to others as well.

In Luke 22:33 Peter said "Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death." Later Peter did go to prison and to death for the Lord, as he said he would.  But there was a work that needed to be done in his life before he was really ready to do that.  Jesus knew that as He looked at Peter that night.  But Jesus also knew that Simon would come forth on the other side as Peter, the rock.