When Will You Turn Back?

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³¹Simon, Simon! Listen! Satan has received permission to test all of you, to separate the good from the bad, as a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff. ³²But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you turn back to me, you must strengthen your brothers. Luke 22:31&32

Simon Peter is one of Jesus’ most remarkable disciples. The Bible contains many incidents where he was engaged in arguments with Jesus himself. And in the passage we have read above, Peter was again engaged in a discussion with Jesus. If we read ahead, we will discover that Jesus was predicting Peter’s denial. He said when the cock crowed, Peter would already have denied him three times. 

There are important points in this passage for our lives. First, Jesus was giving Simon a warning about what was going to befall him. I imagine that Jesus was saying, “Look Brother Peter, you have been a very faithful and close friend in this ministry. You have known the truth about me and my father. And I know that if it were physical strength, you and Mathew and Luke and Andrew and John would not let the Chief Priest and Elders take me away. But look Peter, this is beyond physical strength. Satan is going to tempt all of you and even you will fall.” Peter argued from the human angle. He knew he was passionate about Jesus. He loved the master. He was willing to die for him. But Jesus knew that was not enough.

Second, it is interesting that Jesus did not try to stop Satan from tempting the disciples or stop Peter from falling. Instead, he said “I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail.” In other words, he was saying “Come on Simon, this temptation is coming upon you all and you will fall into it. But that is not important now, because I have prayed for you. You will fall, no doubt, but when you turn back to me, I have an assignment for you. Peter, strengthen you brothers.” It is remarkable that the disciples were not being tempted for no reason. Jesus said they were being tempted to separate the good from the bad. And not long after, we see the bad in Judas. The difference between him and the others was not that he fell. After all, did they not also fall by denying Jesus? Instead, the difference was that when Judas fell, he did not turn back. He went and hung himself!

Many of us are like Peter. We had a very great passion for the Gospel. We preached to everyone we met. We were all over the place with love and enthusiasm. Everyone called us Holy Mary or Blessed Joseph or John the Preacher until something happened. Satan received permission to tempt us. Then that handsome guy or beautiful girl came around, and we couldn’t hold ourselves any longer. We fell! We fell so terribly that everyone who knew our passion before mocked us and the name of Jesus. Now that we have realized ourselves, we feel too guilty to come back to Jesus. We ask ourselves: “how did I let this happen? How can I come back and face the brethren? How can I ever open my mouth and talk to anyone about Jesus?” So we have remained where we fell. But Jesus is asking you today, “When will you turn back?” He understands why you fell. In fact, in Peter’s case, he knew before hand and warned him. Yet, Peter fell.

Jesus is not interested in why you fell or whatever happened in the past. Remember that shortly after he told Peter he was going to fall, he proceeded to remind him of what he must do - turn back. And he had an assignment ready for Peter. He knew you would fall too. He knew that under that exam condition, you would engage in malpractice. He knew that in that depressed and lonely state, you wouldn’t be able to resist that guy or lady. But he is looking beyond that to a time when you will turn back. He is saying to you, “When you turn back . . .” He has an assignment for you. He might want to use your experience to teach others a lesson. He has something for you. But you must turn back first. Remember the trouble Saul caused the church. Yet when he turned back, Jesus gave him an assignment. “And I myself will show him all that he must suffer for my sake” (Acts 9:16). And just as Jesus expected, Simon did not remain in the fallen state. He turned back. On the day of Pentecost, it was he who rose to defend the apostles against the charge of early alcoholism. He was already doing his post-falling assignment!

Dear friend, when will you turn back? The difference between the righteous and the sinner only lies in the decision to turn back. The Bible says a righteous man falls seven times and rises again. Another scripture says “If they fall, they will not stay down, because the LORD will help them up” (Psalm 37:24). There is danger in postponing our turning back till some day in the future. We have no way of knowing what will happen before then. Some people have postponed theirs like that and have fallen into the fire of Hell! God wants to help you up now, but will you turn back now or end like Judas? Talk to Jesus