303. What Did Our Lord Mean by Saying to Peter "When Thou Art Converted Strengthen Thy Brethren"?

The revised version renders the passage (Luke 22:32): "When thou hast turned again, stablish thy brethren.'' We cannot suppose that after Peter's fall, he needed conversion in the sense in which we use the word. He needed repentance and restoration. His words, his actions, and the intense devotion he had previously shown to Christ, all indicated a man already converted. He fell under temptation as Christ had foreseen, but it was a backsliding which Christ forgave. At Pentecost their experience was not conversion, but an enduement of power for service, notably the power of speaking foreign tongues.