Luke 22:31 Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.

Luke 10:41
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

Acts 9:4
And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Satan.

Job 1:8-11
And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? …

Job 2:3-6
And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause…

Zechariah 3:1
And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

sift.

Amos 9:9
For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

Satan has asked
This phrase reveals the spiritual reality of Satan's active role in seeking to challenge and test believers. The language suggests a courtroom-like scenario where Satan must seek permission, reminiscent of the account in Job 1:6-12, where Satan requests to test Job. It highlights the sovereignty of God, who allows such testing within His divine purposes.

to sift all of you like wheat
The imagery of sifting wheat involves separating the grain from the chaff, a process that is vigorous and thorough. This metaphor indicates a severe trial or testing. The phrase "all of you" suggests that while Peter is addressed directly, the testing is intended for all the disciples. This connects to the broader theme of trials and purification found in passages like James 1:2-4 and 1 Peter 1:6-7, where faith is refined through testing. The agricultural metaphor would have been familiar to the disciples, who lived in a society where such processes were common.

Jesus repeats Peter’s birth name to gain his full attention and underscore the seriousness of what follows. The double address carries both affection and urgency, just as He said “Martha, Martha” (Luke 10:41) and “Saul, Saul” (Acts 9:4). Using “Simon” rather than “Peter” (rock) reminds Peter of his human frailty before the coming storm.

• Personal, intimate warning from the Lord

• Emphasis on Peter’s natural weakness apart from grace

• Highlights that Christ knows each disciple by name (John 10:3)

The devil cannot act at will; he must seek permission from God (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). Jesus pulls back the curtain to show the spiritual battle behind the scenes.

• Divine sovereignty sets the limits of every trial (1 Corinthians 10:13)

• Christ, not Satan, directs the narrative of redemption (Colossians 1:13)

• The enemy’s schemes are real, yet he is restrained (1 John 4:4)

Sifting wheat involved shaking it violently so the grain separated from the chaff. Satan intends to shake the disciples until nothing of faith remains. God, however, uses the same process to refine and strengthen.

• Picture of intense testing (Amos 9:9; Luke 3:17)

• Trials expose what is genuine (1 Peter 1:6-7)

• The shaking is temporary, but the result can be enduring purity (Hebrews 12:27)

The Greek verb is plural; every disciple faces the coming pressure. Peter’s denial, Thomas’s doubts, the others’ flight—all will feel the sieve.

• Prophecy that the flock will scatter (Matthew 26:31)

• Corporate nature of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:12)

• Each believer’s faith is personally precious to Christ (John 17:9-11)

Wheat is valuable, and sifting is part of harvesting—an image of ultimate usefulness. Christ allows the process because He sees the finished product.

• Wheat kept, chaff discarded (Psalm 1:4; Matthew 3:12)

• Death to self leads to fruitfulness (John 12:24)

• After purification, vessels become “set apart and useful to the Master” (2 Timothy 2:21)

Luke 22:31 reveals a real adversary, a controlled battlefield, and a purposeful test. Jesus warns Peter—and every believer—that Satan desires to shake us hard, hoping faith will fail. Yet the Lord’s sovereign permission turns that same shaking into refining. Because our names are known to Jesus, our trials are neither random nor wasted. Trusting His oversight, we can face every sift with confident expectation that genuine faith will emerge stronger and more fruitful.

Satan hath desired to have you.--Both this verb, and the "I have prayed," are in the Greek tense which indicates an act thought of as belonging entirely to the past. The Lord speaks as though He had taken part in some scene like that in the opening of Job (Job 1:6-12; Job 2:1-6), or that which had come in vision before the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 3:1-5), and had prevailed by His intercession against the Tempter and Accuser.

That he may sift you as wheat.--The word and the figure are peculiar to St. Luke's record. The main idea is, however, the same as that of the winnowing fan in Matthew 3:12; the word for "sift" implying a like process working on a smaller scale. The word for "you" is plural. The fiery trial by which the wheat was to be separated from the chaff was to embrace the whole company of the disciples as a body. There is a latent encouragement in the very word chosen. They were "to be sifted as wheat." The good grain was there. They were not altogether as the chaff. . . .