Luke 22:32

“But I made supplication for you, that your faith fail not, and do you, when once you have turned again, establish your brethren.”

Notice the emphatic ‘I'. Jesus stands over against Satan and proves the more powerful. None other could have done this, only the One Who was ‘Stronger than he' (Luke 11:22). And because He has made supplication for Peter all will be well. Peter's faith, having been battered, will finally stand the test. Furthermore, once he has ‘been turned again' (or ‘has turned himself again') and come back to Jesus, he is also to establish his brother disciples, and all the people of God (‘the brethren'). Note how God has a purpose in all that He allows (compare Hebrews 12:2). What was to happen to Peter would in the end benefit him, for it would serve to humble him, and it would benefit the people of God as well. This was his preparation for his servant-throne from which he would tend the sheep (John 21:15). In later centuries the leaders of the church would take up the idea of thrones. Men are always looking to exalt themselves. But what they would totally reject was the actual idea of being the servants of all. (They would retain the language but reject its content). It is impossible for anyone to feel that he should be put on a pedestal, and at the same time remain humble.

This need revealed in Peter is found in us all. That is why the writer to the Hebrews points out that He ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25), so that He can save us to the uttermost. For as was true in the case of Peter, (earthly rocks are very vulnerable), without His constant intercession we too would be lost.