22.31 ‘Simon, Simon, listen! Satan (ο σατανας) has demanded (εξητεησατο) you (υμας) to sift (σινιασαι) like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you (σου) that your (σου) faith may not fail; and when you (συ) have turned back, strengthen your brothers.’
(Lk. 22.31-32)
This passage introduces some surprising
aspects: Satan has demanded all of the disciples for himself, and Satan has
done this in order to sift them. It appears that Satan has the right to demand
people from God, and Jesus’ only reaction is to pray that the faith of one of them
will not fail. Simon’s faith, it seems, will not influence the sifting itself
but only his repentance. This portrayal of Satan can raise a number of
questions regarding Luke’s Satanology: Satan appears to have certain rights,
and Jesus seems powerless to stop the sifting. Possible interpretations of this
passage vary, but considering the usage of the hapax legomenon εξατιεω—which in the middle voice generally means
asking for something to which one has the right—a link to Job is easily made.
As in Job, where Satan demands Job for himself and for testing, here Satan
demands the disciples. Job is probably the earliest case where Satan incites
God against righteous people and attacks the righteous; but after that the
theme occurs in other places (most notably, a number of times in Jubilees,
where the opponent has certain rights [Jub. 10.8] and causes God to test
Abraham with the sacrifice of Isaac [Jub. 17.15]). (Tom de Bruin, “In Defence
of New Testament Satanologies: A Response to Farrar and Williams,” Journal
for the Study of the New Testament [2021:, 1-17, here, p. 12)
