31. And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
The Lord now speaks to Peter, calling him by his given name of Simon. (Remember that the Lord gave him the name of Peter.) He repeats his name twice. The Companion Bible calls this the figure Epizeuxis, or Duplication. The Lord seems to use it when gently but sternly offering warning or rebuke. That is certainly the case here.
The Lord reveals to Simon that Satan has made request for him. This recalls to our minds the story in the book of Job, wherein Satan comes to the LORD and requests of Him the ability to do certain things to Job. The Lord is revealing here that Satan has done the same thing in this case.
Now the way this reads in the New King James, we might imagine that Satan’s request was only for Peter himself, and that he was hoping to snare Peter especially along with Judas in the events that were to come. However, this impression is left by the current weakness of the English language, which does not specify between a singular and a plural “you.” In Greek here, the word “you” is plural, and it is masculine. We might make this, then, “Satan has asked for you men.” In other words, the Lord is not just telling Peter that Satan had asked Him to be able to sift him personally as wheat, but rather that Satan had asked to be able to do this to all the disciples. Read the rest of this entry »
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17. Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves;
1. Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.
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