Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you.

St Luke Chapter XXII : Verses 31-38

Contents

• Luke xxii. Verses 31-38.  Douay-Rheims (Challoner) text & Latin text (Vulgate)
• Douay-Rheims 1582 text
• Annotations based on the Great Commentary

Luke xxii. Verses 31-38.

Simon Peter. J-J Tissot.
Brooklyn museum.

31 And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

Ait autem Dominus : Simon, Simon, ecce Satanas expetivit vos ut cribraret sicut triticum :

32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren.

ego autem rogavi pro te ut non deficiat fides tua : et tu aliquando conversus, confirma fratres tuos.

33 Who said to him: Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.

Qui dixit ei : Domine, tecum paratus sum et in carcerem et in mortem ire.

34 And he said: I say to thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, till thou thrice deniest that thou knowest me. And he said to them:

At ille dixit : Dico tibi, Petre, non cantabit hodie gallus, donec ter abneges nosse me. Et dixit eis :

35 When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, did you want anything?

Quando misi vos sine sacculo, et pera, et calceamentis, numquid aliquid defuit vobis?

36 But they said: Nothing. Then said he unto them: But now he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise a scrip; and he that hath not, let him sell his coat, and buy a sword.

At illi dixerunt : Nihil. Dixit ergo eis : Sed nunc qui habet sacculum, tollat; similiter et peram : et qui non habet, vendat tunicam suam et emat gladium.

37 For I say to you, that this that is written must yet be fulfilled in me: And with the wicked was he reckoned. For the things concerning me have an end.

Dico enim vobis, quoniam adhuc hoc quod scriptum est, oportet impleri in me : Et cum iniquis deputatus est. Etenim ea quæ sunt de me finem habent.

38 But they said: Lord, behold here are two swords. And he said to them, It is enough.

At illi dixerunt : Domine, ecce duo gladii hic. At ille dixit eis : Satis est.

Douay-Rheims : 1582 text

31. And our Lord ſaid: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath required to haue you for to ſift as wheate:

32. BVT I HAVE PRAIED FOR THEE, that thy faith faile not: and thou once conuerted, confirme they brethren.
33. Who ſaid to him: Lord, with thee I am readie to goe both into priſon and vnto death.
34. And he ſaid: I ſay to thee Peter, the cocke ſhal not crow to day, til thou denie thriſe that thou knoweſt me.
35. And he ſaid to them: When I ſent you without purſe and ſkrip and ſhoes, did you lacke any thing? But they ſaid: Nothing.
36. He ſaid therfore vnto them: But now he that hath a purſe, let him take it, likewiſe also a ſkrip: and he that hath not, let him ſel his coate, and buy a ſword.
37. For I ſay to you, that yet this that is written muſt be fulfilled in me: And with the wicked was he reputed. For thoſe things that are concerning me, haue an end.
38. But they ſaid: Lord, loe two ſwordes here. But he ſaid to them: It is enough.

Annotations

    31. And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. sift—that is vex, afflict, agitate, cast you down as wheat in a sieve that it may be cleared of chaff and dust. Satan in the same manner asked God to permit him to sift and afflict Job, and in some degree he obtained his end. He did the same again to Peter and the other Apostles, and again, in part succeeded, when he stirred up the Jews to seize Christ, for then the Apostles themselves fled in fear and were dispersed. 

The temptation is well compared to sifting and a sieve, because, as by means of the sieve the grains of wheat are separated from the chaff, and remain in the sieve, while the chaff is scattered to the wind, and dispersed in air, so the faithful and the saints in temptation remain constant, but the wicked fail and fly off.

    32. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:  for thee, because I destine thee to be the head and chief of the Apostles and of My Church, that thy faith fail not in believing Me to be the Christ and the Saviour of the world. Observe that Christ in this prayer asked and obtained for Peter two especial privileges before the other Apostles: the first was personal, that he should never fall from faith in Christ; for Christ looked back to the sifting in the former verse, that is the temptation of His own apprehension when the other Apostles flew off from Him like chaff and lost their faith, and were dispersed, and fled into all parts. But Peter, although he denied Christ with his lips, at the hour foretold, and lost his love for Him, yet retained his faith. So S. Chrysostom (Hom. xxxviii.) on S. Matthew; S. Augustine (de corrept. et Grat. chap. viii.); Theophylact and others. This is possible but not certain, for F. Lucas and others think that Peter then lost both his faith and his love, from excessive perturbation and fear; but only for a short time, and so that his faith afterwards sprang up anew, and was restored with fresh vitality. Hence it is thought not to have wholly failed, or to have been torn up by the roots, but rather to have been shaken and dead for a time.

    Another and a certain privilege was common to Peter with all his successors, that he and all the other bishops of Rome (for Peter, as Christ willed, founded and confirmed the Pontifical Church at Rome), should never openly fall from this faith, so as to teach the Church heresy, or any error, contrary to the faith. So S. Leo (serm. xxii.), on Natalis of SS. Peter and Paul; S. Cyprian (Lib. i. ep. 3), to Cornelius; Lucius I., Felix I., Agatho, Nicolas I., Leo IX., Innocent III., Bernard and others, whom Bellarmine cites and follows (Lib. i. de Pontif. Roman).

    For it was necessary that Christ, by His most wise providence, should provide for His Church, which is ever being sifted and tempted by the devil, and that not only in the time of Peter, but at all times henceforth, even to the end of the world, an oracle of the true faith which she might consult in every doubt, and by which she might be taught and confirmed in the faith, otherwise the Church might err in faith, quod absit! For she is, as S. Paul said to Timothy, “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. iii. 15). This oracle of the Church then is Peter, and all successive bishops of Rome. This promise made to Peter and his successors, most especially applies to the time when Peter, as the successor of Christ, began to be the head of the Church, that is, after the death of Christ.

    and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren. “From the sifting of Satan, that is from his temptation and from the sin by which thou wilt deny Me; for by this thou wilt be turned aside from Me, and My grace and love.” So Euthymius, Theophylact, Jansen, F. Lucas, and others.

    Some take this converted (conversus) as meaning “again” (iterum). So Bede, “Do thou, O Peter, again confirm the Apostles thy brethren, in the faith after My death, whom I now, while alive, strengthen by My words.” For the Hebrew often uses the verb for the adverb. So Ps. LXXXVI. 6.

    confirm thy brethren. Thy brethren, and therefore Mine. The condescension of Christ here is wonderful. He does not call the Apostles sons although He spiritually begot them to God, but brothers: as well because Christ as man, was the brother of all men, being a sharer of the same human nature, as because the Apostles in their apostleship and preaching of the Gospel, were the brothers and colleagues of Christ; for they did the same work as He. Hence the Fathers, whom I have cited, and the Doctors of the Church conclude that Peter was set over the other Apostles by Christ, and consequently was made the head and chief over the whole Church, that he might build up, perfect, and confirm the Church in the faith and religion of Christ.

    36. Then said he unto them: But now he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise a scrip. A purse filled with money, a scrip with food, that they might have support in the impending persecution; for they will never find either, “because men will fly from Me, who am bound and accused, and consequently from My disciples as men wicked and condemned.”

    and he that hath not, let him sell his coat, and buy a sword.. Christ, in these words, did not command them to take a purse and a scrip, and to sell their garment and buy a sword, for He soon after forbade Peter to draw his sword; but they were a warning of the fierce persecution which was about to fall upon Himself and the apostles, and which was so heavy to those that regarded the difficulty of the case with the eyes of mere human wisdom, that food and weapons would appear things absolutely necessary for the preservation of life. The meaning therefore is this, 

“Everything, so far, has happened to you, O my Apostles, well and prosperously; for when I sent you to preach the Gospel without purse, or scrip, or sword, you were kindly received by most, fed, and sheltered, and had no need of these things. But now so grievous a persecution is impending over you, and so great is the danger to your lives, that in human prudence it may seem necessary to each to think of the preservation of his life, and therefore to take a scrip and purse for provision, and a weapon for defence, and to sell his cloak, and buy a sword. But to Me, who weigh circumstances by the design and decree of God the Father, there is no need of such things; for I go voluntarily to the cross, and to death, and I offer Myself of My own free will, to those who will persecute Me and crucify Me, so that I may conform Myself to the will of My Father.” 

    So S. Chrysostom (Hom. 85 on S. Matt.), and from him Theophylact on this passage, Jansen, Maldonatus, and others. S. Ambrose says well, “O Lord, why commandest Thou me to buy a sword, and forbiddest me to strike, unless that I may be prepared for my defence, and that Thou mayest appear able to avenge though Thou wouldst not?”

    38. But they said: Lord, behold here are two swords. And he said to them, It is enough. They did not understand the mind and words of Christ clearly. He did not mean that they should buy swords, but He wished to show them the impending danger. Christ did not explain His meaning to the Apostles, but concealed it, saying, “It is enough,” meaning that Peter and the other Apostles might carry these swords, and even cut off Malchus’ ear, which He Himself afterwards restored and healed, showing that He was not compelled by force, but was urged by love, willingly and freely to suffer and die. Some think that they were not military swords, but rather large butchers’ knives, which the apostles used for the slaughtering, sacrificing, and disjointing of the Paschal Lamb. So S. Chrysostom, from whom I have said more on Matt. xxvii.

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.