“Perilous times”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Friday, June 30, 2023

Luke 22:31-38 (Forward, p. 63) CEV p. 1093

Jesus, unlike some others over the years, was always ready to prepare His followers for what was ahead—even if they often did not ‘get’ it, understand it or believe it. So, for instance, when He sent them on their exploratory ‘mission’ trips (see Luke 5:10-11 etc), He warned them that they would indeed meet rejection at times. And, at numerous times after the Transfiguration—in what are labelled ‘the Passion Predictions’—He told them about what was soon to happen in Jerusalem. And of course, there is the Little Apocalypse found in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 24:4-36; Mark 13:5-37 and Luke 21:8-36) where He warns them about the future of Jerusalem and of the world in general.

Here, in today’s passage, He again warns them that perilous times lay ahead. What is possibly surprising, however, is that the perils lie on two levels, spiritual and material—that is, from otherworldly, non-human sources and from human sources.

The otherworldly, non-human source is none other than the Enemy, Satan himself. Satan has demanded the right to test each one of them—and seemingly, has been given that right—for each and every one of them will most definitely be tested spiritually in some pretty extreme ways. Of the Twelve, only Judas succumbs to temptation, but the rest don’t exactly come up ‘smelling like roses’ either. Peter, at the most desperate time of Jesus’ life, denies knowing our Lord three times, and the rest of the disciples, except for Peter and John and the women, turn tail and run for their lives. They desert Jesus at this crucial time.

Jesus doesn’t mince words about this. He tells Peter that he will indeed fall away, but that he will return, and when he does so, help the others. Peter protests that this could never, ever happen, but Jesus knows otherwise and tells him.

But this isn’t the only danger: there is also the human factor to be concerned about. Unlike the fore-mentioned mission trips, He tells them to be equipped this time, equipped with money bags, travelling bags, and even, surprisingly, a sword. It isn’t necessarily that they will need all these

things, but that they should be ready of any eventuality. He is saying that anything might happen, and so they should be prepared. And indeed, that could well have come to pass after Jesus’ death: the authorities might well have decided to follow up on this little ‘hiccup’ to their plans by hunting down all of Jesus’ friends and followers! That indeed did happen, much later, and ‘too late.’ The Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost had already taken place and the church was already too firmly established to be so easily dislodged or snuffed out.

We, likewise, live in perilous times, and once again, the perils come at us from multiple directions. We look around us and see numerous human players, events and movements that are rather strange and disturbing. And, it is quite easy and natural to suppose that there is some joint and concerted human agency or organization behind it, some conspiracy. And, while there may indeed be something of the sort at times, it is far safer, and reasonable, to look instead at the spiritual level rather than upon mere ‘flesh and blood’. The reality is that our enemy chooses to use his human pawns to do his dirty work, and so, what seems to be a pattern or some organized effort, is in actuality his plans taking fruit unintentionally through his human minions. And so, Paul’s advice in 2 Corinthians 2 (2 Corinthians 10:4-6) is most wise. The weapons of our warfare, our means of combatting and resisting these perils, are not those of human conflict, but spiritual, things like prayer and fasting and such like. And, indeed, these weapons are effective and powerful, even against such an enemy as this. And being forewarned, we can be ready. Amen.

Forward notes: “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (verses 31-32).

“Satan has demanded to separate the wheat from the chaff. Satan, the Accuser. Satan, the one who pulled up to the heavenly council and demanded a chance to reveal Job, the poster boy for wheat, for the chaff that he really was deep down.

“Isn’t it interesting that the being who has come to embody sin more than any other is also the one who feels he has the right to judge and evaluate

and sift us based on our moral character? That he has the duty to condemn us and administer the consequences of our wrongs?

“I’m grateful that Jesus reserves this responsibility for himself. I’m glad that the one who separates the wheat from the chaff also separates our sins from us as far as the east is the west; who prays that our faith may not fail, and yet even when it does, overwrites our denial with affirmation and recommissions us to strengthen our siblings.”

Moving Forward: “Are you tempted to be the judge and jury for others? Remind yourself that it is Jesus’s role—and not yours.”