Question 300: What Did Our Saviour Mean By Saying To Peter “When Thou Art Converted Strengthen Thy Brethren”?

Answer:

The revised version renders the passage (Luke 22:32): "When thou hast turned again, establish 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 Moshiach, all indicated a man already converted. He fell under temptation as Moshiach had foreseen, but it was a backsliding which Moshiach forgave. At Shavuot their experience was not conversion, but an enduement of power for service, notably the power of speaking foreign tongues.