Difference between revisions of "Luke 22:31-35"

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The New Testament > Luke > Chapter 22

Questions

• What is the difference between Satan's "sift you as wheat" (Luke 22:31) and the Lord's "purge them as gold and silver" (Mal 3:3)? That is, what is the difference between the sifter's sieve and the refiner's fire? Both are methods of separation, but are used quite differently in the scriptures. (See also: Isa 48:10, Mal 3:2, Zech 13:9, D&C 128:24).

Lexical notes

Verse 31

• "You." Both instances of “you” (hymas) in the KJV are plural. Thus, “Satan hath desired to have [you all], that he may sift [you all] as wheat.”
• "Sift." The root of “sift” (siniazō) is “sieve” (sinion), possibly---though not necessarily---implying a distinction between winnowing (tossing grain such that wind carries away light contaminants, i.e., chaff) and sifting (agitating grain through a sieve to separate out larger contaminants too heavy to be removed by winnowing).
• "Desired." The phrase “hath desired to have” is translated from exaiteō, which means “to ask that one be given up to one from the power of another” (Thayer’s Lexicon).

Verse 32

• "Thee," "thy," and "thou." All the second-person pronouns (sou, sou, and sy) are singular. Thus, “I have prayed for thee [Peter],” and so on.

Exegesis

Note the similarity between Job 1:6–Job 1:12 and verse 31, especially in light of “to ask that one be given up to one from the power of another” definition given above.

Verses 31 and 32 can be understood as is as an injunction for unity and instructions for attaining it. Christ’s audience is the twelve apostles (Luke 22:14), whom Satan desires to “sift…as wheat.” One way to approach the simile “sift as wheat” is to focus on the result: to sift is to separate different-sized objects. In other metaphors for separation—sheep from goats (Matt 25:32), wheat from tares (Matt 13:30)—the result is to divide desirable from undesirable. It is unclear, however, into which categories Satan might wish to divide the individuals in a group. He does not desire the separation of the wicked from the righteous but that the righteous become wicked (2 Ne 2:18, 2 Ne 9:9, Ether 8:26, Moro 7:17). Another approach focuses on the process and its intermediate result: to sift something is to shake, agitate, and jolt it so that individual pieces are separated from each other, first by air during agitation and then by the grating. Thus, for Satan to sift a group as wheat is for him to “shake, agitate, and jolt” it sufficiently that individuals separate from each other.

As rendered in the KJV—with the understanding that the “you” in verse 31 is plural—these verses indicate that Satan desires power over the Twelve so that he may disunify them. In the JST, the object is different: “Satan hath desired you, that he may sift the children of the kingdom as wheat.” Thus, Satan desires power over the Twelve so that he may disunify the whole church.

When Christ gives similar instructions to the Nephites (3 Ne 18:18), the audience and the object are the multitude assembled at the temple on the first day of Christ’s visitation—those who received greater manifestations than those who came on the second day and thereafter. In the course of His instructions, Jesus expands the application to “whosoever” (3 Ne 18:24). Jesus begins with counsel: “watch and pray always” to avoid temptation because Satan wants to sift them as wheat. The because leads us to a third way of interpreting the wheat-sifting simile. Whereas the other two approaches focus on the results of permanent division or temporary separation, the third idea focuses on the process of shaking and tossing around. Satan, who seeks “the misery of all mankind” (2 Ne 2:18) wants to toss us around as an end in itself, just because it makes us less happy. In contrast, the Lord subjects us (or allows us to be subjected) to the sifter’s sieve and the refiner’s fire so that we may be purified, individually and collectively, and thus become happier.

In Luke 22:32, the comfort and counsel Jesus gives Peter is that Jesus had prayed for him, that faith that did not fail was the key to not being sifted, and that Peter should help his fellows. In 3 Nephi, Christ teaches the people to “watch and pray always” to avoid temptation (3 Ne 18:18) and to do so “unto the Father in my [Christ’s] name” (3 Ne 18:19), which parallels His intercession in Luke 22:32 and His injunction in Luke 22:40 to “Pray that ye enter not into temptation.” He further instructs the Nephites that they should pray “in” their families, for all those who came to their church meetings, and as they had seen Him do (3 Ne 18:24). In addition, He enjoins that they “meet together oft” and that they “not forbid any man from coming” to those meetings (3 Ne 18:22). Returning to the original idea, He posits that if they did not pray and meet as He had instructed they had been “led into temptation” (3 Ne 18:25). In both Luke and 3 Nephi, prayer, Christ’s intercession, and unity in the community of believers are presented as defenses against Satan’s sifting.

Luke 22 and 3 Nephi 18 are similar in another way. In both cases Jesus institutes the sacrament and deals with church organization. Among the Nephites he explains that “there shall one be ordained among you…” to administer the sacrament and then goes on to describe meetings (3 Ne 18:22), who could participate (3 Ne 18:28), and church records (3 Ne 18:31)—before conferring the Melchizedek Priesthood on the Nephite Twelve (3 Ne 18:37). In Luke, after the sacramental meal, there is discussion about “which of them should be accounted the greatest” followed by instructions about leadership (Luke 22:24 – Luke 22:27) and the charge to Peter about his responsibilities in verse 32. Thus, in both situations strengthening the body of Christ is connected to partaking of the emblems of Christ’s body as administered by Christ’s church.

The interpretation of “sift as wheat” as “shake, agitate, and jolt the church so that it becomes disunited” has at least two related images in the New Testament. Luke’s connection between not being tossed in a metaphorical sieve and faith that does not fail is similar to James 1:6: “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” In Ephesians, Paul explains how the organization of the church helps all to “come in the unity of the faith” so that they will no longer be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Eph 4:14; Eph 4:11 – Eph 4:16).

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