Apostle Peter's way of faith in the light of the announcement of betrayal (Luke 22:31-34) and denial of Jesus (Luke 22:54b-62)

Abstract

One of the best known events in Peter's life are his three acts of denial of Jesus. The denial is referred to in all four Gospels (Matthew 26:58.69-75; Mark 14:54.66-72; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-27). What happened in the courtyard of the high priest's palace had been foretold by Jesus himself, though the accounts pertaining to this event given by the Evangelists are slightly different from each other, particularly in terms of the context and time of Jesus' announcement. According to Matthew and Mark the announcement was made after the Last Supper on the way to Getsemani (Matthew 26:31-35; Mark 14:27-31), whereas according to Luke and John it happened during the Last Supper as part of Jesus' farewell address (Luke 22:31-34; John 13:36-38). The subject of our deliberations is the account given by Luke the Evangelist, which illustrates perfectly well Apostle Peter's way of faith as the necessary act of experiencing one's own weakness and insufficiency, which results in  turning oneself (converting) to the power of  Somebody else. Moreover, Luke's version contains new essential elements which the other Evangelists are missing: Satan insisting on afflicting the disciples (22:31), Jesus praying for Peter that his faith would not fail and the prophecy – a promise that when Peter is converted, he shall strenghten his brothers  (22:32).

In light of the analyzed texts, the way of faith does not always bring one from non-belief to faith. Sometimes it is necessary to embark upon the way which is harder and more demanding, the way which takes one from improper, false faith to the one which is proper and true. Peter's way of faith mirrored the latter. First, he put unconditional trust into himself. He relied on his faithfulness, which he declared openly, spontaneously and readily. He was ready to go with Jesus to prison and to death (22:33). Jesus knew that in order to cleanse Peter's faith, it needed to be shaken and go through a critical period. Jesus approved of such a situation in order to put Peter's faith to test.  This approval, however, from the very beginning, had been ingrained with assurance and a promise that Peter's faith, even though put to test, shall not fail completely (22:32). One can say that Jesus, through experiencing three acts of denial, allowed the destruction of  Peter's improper and false faith, which was  based on Peter being convinced of his power and faithfulness. Peter then was brought onto the way of faith, which was the way of cleansing, conversion and strengthening in genuine faith based on Jesus' forgiving love (22:61-62).