The Greatness of Heavenly Power

“Betrayed”

(Matthew 26:47-56, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 26, 2008)

Matthew 26:47-56 ⁴⁷ While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. ⁴⁸ Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man; seize him." ⁴⁹ And he came up to Jesus at once and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" And he kissed him. ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you came to do." Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. ⁵¹ And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. ⁵² Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. ⁵³ Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?" ⁵⁵ At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. ⁵⁶ But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Introduction – Remembering the final week

Eight months ago I preached a sermon from the opening verses of Matthew 21. It is important for us to remember that though we have already spent these many weeks looking at these six chapters, these things happened within about one week. It was not just any week. It was the most important week of human history. It began with our Lord and His disciples coming into Jerusalem as Jesus was exalted by some of the people as the Davidic King. It ends with Jesus exalted by God as the resurrected Son of David, the great King and Head of the church in this age, and the Lord of the Resurrection age to come, the King of a kingdom that men could never produce.

During this week, Jesus did and said many things. He stirred up a major controversy in the temple, He taught about the current leaders of the scribes and the Pharisees, He taught about the great struggles coming in what would be the gospel age, He spoke of the final Resurrection temple that would be revealed in the people of the age to come, and He gave His final parables about the judgment that would one day come upon the earth. Then He instituted the Lord’s Supper on the occasion of the final Passover, and He experienced the deep grief of His resolve to take upon Himself our sin as He went to the cross. As He finishes His time in the Garden of Gethsemane, we find Him serene; He is calm, in control, and at peace after the deep grief of that brutal hour of prayer. In the verses before us today, He is met by a close friend, a man who will betray Him in person. He is ready. Everything will now take place.

The one I will kiss (47-50)

The close friend who will betray Him is Judas Iscariot. We know so little about Him. When we are first introduced to this man in Matthew 10, the only detail we are given apart from his name is that this is the one who would betray him. Earlier in this chapter we learned of his plan with the chief priests. Judas took the initiative in this matter, and he received a prepayment for his services. We learn in the account of the upper room prior to the institution of the Lord’s Supper, that Jesus was well aware that Judas would betray Him. After the betrayal, at the beginning of Matthew 27, we learn that Judas changed his mind and brought back the money to the chief priests and elders, but it was too late. This is the sum of what we know about Judas from Matthew’s gospel, except that he was one of the twelve, there with the others in all of the events that have taken place in those three years of Jesus’ public ministry and private instruction of His disciples. He was a close companion and a familiar friend.

In the other gospels we are given a few more details. We know from Luke and John that Satan was somehow united with Judas in the disciple’s acts of betrayal. We also read in John’s gospel that Judas was the keeper of the funds, and that he used to steal money for his own benefit. John also says that Judas had a good idea of where Jesus would be that night. He had often come there with the other friends of Jesus. He went to get the band of soldiers to bring them to that place in order to fulfill this plan to betray the Son of Man into the hands of His enemies.

In Matthew and Mark there is an important detail that is interesting from the original Greek. We all are aware that Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, which would have been a normal familial greeting, as it still is today in certain cultures. What you may not realize is that our passage uses two different words that are both translated “kiss” in all of the translations. The first of these is in verse 48, when the plot is described. “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” The word here is the word for brotherly love, and it is almost always translated “love.” It can be translated “kiss,” because that would be a cultural sign of brotherly affection. The second word is an intense form of the first, and it is found in verse 49, “And he kissed him.” It is only used a few times in the New Testament. It means an increased intensity of brotherly affection and is always translated “kiss.” Aside from this kiss of betrayal, there are three other episodes where this intensified expression of familial affection is used. We find it in Luke 7 when a weeping woman kisses the feet of Jesus, in Luke 15 when a father in the parable of the lost son kisses his son with great joy upon his return, and Acts 20 when people kiss Paul after he tells them that they will never see him again. I want you to see that the kiss that Judas gave to Jesus that night was an emphatic embrace that a younger brother would give to an older brother. It was not half-hearted, at least in outward display, but of course it was a kiss of death, and a sign that will forever stand as the example of utmost hypocrisy. Jesus knows this, receives it, and instructs his one-time friend to do what he has come to do. He came to betray the Son of Man, and so he does.

Our weapons (51-52)

This betrayal is a horrible attack against the Lord. How do those who claim to love Jesus respond to it? We learn from John’s gospel that Peter is the unnamed disciple in verse 51 who cuts off someone’s ear. It is hard to say for sure what he is thinking, but there are certain things that should be obvious. Peter is willing to use the weapons of this world against those who come as agents of governing authorities bearing swords and clubs. They have swords, and so does Peter, and he intends to use his. The Apostle Paul tells us that God has given the sword to those He places in positions of authority. Sometimes we may wonder about the Lord’s providence in giving us a Stalin or a Nero. He does not explain Himself to us. Calvin suggests that bad princes are sometimes given to a city as an expression of the Lord’s judgment against that place. Paul and Peter tell us that civil authority comes from God, and that these ministers of civil power do not bear the sword in vain.

Jesus has been preaching the kingdom of God as an integral part of His message. Will that kingdom come through the power of the sword? Here is one of the first test cases, and the emphatic answer from the King who is on His way to the cross is this: “Put your sword back into its place.” His reasoning: “All who take the sword will perish by the sword.” Peter, if you want to die before your time by the sword of someone claiming some kind of authority to govern, then go right ahead, and continue to cut off ears. But Peter, I have a better plan for you, since My kingdom is not going to come through civil authorities and their powers. Put the sword away, and live to fight another day in another way. Judas might have thought that the Kingdom would come through the money of men, and Peter may have been tempted to bring it through the sword, but Jesus will bring His Kingdom through His own death.

The powers of heaven (53)

If God wanted to use some force that all men would have had to respect, Jesus could have done it in a moment. He does not need us to help Him. He tells anyone who might be interested that He has the fullness of a holy angelic host at His command. That would be quite a military force to deal with. He refers to literally thousands of angels that He could call upon. I don’t know much about angels, but I understand that some of them can defeat thousands of manly men in a moment.

These angelic fighters are one expression of the power of heaven and heaven’s God. Their day will come, but now the power of God will go forward with a different kind of program, through the death of the Messiah in accord with the Scriptures. This message will be preached by simple men and believed and lived out by simple churches for many centuries before we see angel warriors coming over the horizon in a resurrection host at the return of Christ. This is the plan of God for the Kingdom, and it has been an exceedingly difficult lesson for the church to learn over the centuries. For many years popes and emperors have thought that the way to bring Jesus to the world was through the power of civil authority. They, like Peter, need to know that if this new kingdom was coming through brute force, thousands of angels could do the job much better than we could. A soldier should be a soldier. A policeman should be a policeman. Christians can do these things, and they should do them, preferably with a good understanding of their limitations and with a commitment to do what is right. But when the church acts as church she must put her sword away, and reject all forms of worldly coercion, however subtle or blatant they may be.

The Scriptures fulfilled (54-56)

We have a different sword in our hands. We have “the word of God… living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) This Spirit-filled Word is to be preached, believed, and obeyed by the church. Jesus was doing everything in fulfillment of the Scriptures; passages like Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, and hundreds of others like Psalm 55 which even tells us about Judas. The authorities did not need swords and clubs to capture Jesus. The Scriptures would be fulfilled. Therefore, He went forward as a Lamb to the slaughter. Though His disciples all scattered at that moment, though He would bear even our sins through His death on the cross, we know now that in that moment of horrible weakness, He would be the Word above all earthly powers, a Word that we are determined to preach until angels come with a different kind of heavenly power, and Christ returns to judge the earth. When we use the weapons of this world to produce disciples for the Kingdom of God, we only betray the King of the Kingdom, who called us to follow in the way of the cross. Let us give instead a kiss of peace through the Word of life from the glorious King of the kingdom.

Questions for meditation and discussion:

1. What kind of culture might think of Judas as a hero? (See Richardson’s Peace Child re Sawi tribe.)

2. What do we learn from Peter’s actions and the response of Jesus?

3. What are the different ways that heaven’s power can be expressed?

4. Compare and contrast the power of earthly authorities with that of heaven?

If it is Your Will...

“As You Will”

(Matthew 26:36-46, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 12, 2008)

Matthew 26:36-46 ³⁶ Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I go over there and pray." ³⁷ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸ Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." ³⁹ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." ⁴⁰ And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour? ⁴¹ Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." ⁴² Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done." ⁴³ And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. ⁴⁵ Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand."

Introduction – A point of no return…

America’s most famous theologian, Jonathan Edwards, preached for twenty-three years to his 18^th century church in Northampton, Massachusetts until a time of great controversy arose which led to their formal rejection of him. Though he tried for some time to work out a resolution, it was not to be. Edwards came to the occasion of his last sermon to that congregation, a forthright exposition of 2 Corinthians 1:14, pressing upon them the fact that he and they would both have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ one day. At that emotionally-charged moment, he did not hold back. It was a point of no return. He laid out many things before them, but one of the final things that he urged was the duty of those who were on different sides of the recent controversy to join together regularly in prayer. He earnestly pledged to pray for the congregation and asked their fervent prayers for him. Interesting…

Our Lord, in the Garden of Gethsemane, reached a monumental point of no return. He knew that He would soon depart from His little flock of disciples and they would all be scattered from Him. Perhaps more than any other episode in the Bible, we see in Gethsemane that Jesus Christ did not hold anything back as He went to the cross. Though His situation in the garden as He moved toward the cross was in some ways like nothing else that any man has ever faced, there is a point of contact here with all people of faith who have ever found themselves at the end of something important; when the road ahead is very hard, and there simply is no way of going back to an earlier day. At such a defining time for the future of one’s life; a time which so many have faced, usually against their own will, and often without the effectual comfort of friends, the thought comes that the only one we can turn to is God Himself. We have much to learn about our Lord, and much to learn from Him from His time of agony in that place.

The Master’s instruction (36-38)

Jesus was called the “Son of David,” because He was a descendant of King David. The place where He was known to be with His disciples, called Gethsemane, at the Mount of Olives, was the same location where 1000 years before Christ, His ancestor David left Jerusalem in sorrow after His son Absalom had turned against Him and had won the hearts of so many of the people. David had reached one of those defining moments. Life could never be the same again. Now Jesus came to this place of sorrow, and mourned deeply as He prepared for the hours ahead.

It amazes us to see our Savior, the God-Man Jesus, in such trouble and asking for His closest companions to stay with Him. The text says that He began to grieve and to have a very heavy heart. He told Peter, James, and John, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” The word that is translated “very sorrowful” comes from the combination of two words, one that means “around” and another that refers to grieving or weeping. It is an intensified word referring to severe grief. We might think of it as a sobbing heart; some kind of all-out grieving that touched the entire landscape of His soul. We know that this was what the Lord was referring to because He said that it was a kind of sadness that could lead to death. When He said He was so very sorrowful, “even to death,” He was not referring to His coming death on the cross. He was saying that He was so grieved with what was happening that He was about to die right there in the Garden of Gethsemane. That was the depth of grief that He had. If you think it impossible that the divine Jesus would grieve like that, our text this morning demands that you embrace more fully the reality of His true humanity and the place of the deepest grief in the human condition during this present age.

His request was that these three disciples would simply be near Him, at least to a point, while He experienced this grief. They should wait with Him. The mention of prayer came later. Jesus had not yet been betrayed, arrested, convicted, abused, or crucified. Why was He so grieved? There must have been something about the horror of that moment and about the evil of our sin and the curse that required this sacrifice that was inconceivably sad. This was a deep grief that our Lord experienced as part of His identification with us as we go through this fallen world, but it was more than that as we hear from His words.

The humble request (39)

He fell on His face before God, and He prayed. “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” From these words we know that our Savior was also considering the personal cost of the plan of salvation. What did it mean for the eternal Son of God who was the delight of His Father to have to face the punishment that we deserve? What was it like for the holy Son who never knew sin, to now face the prospect of being the sin offering for us? We will never know what it was like for Jesus to die on the cross as the object of God’s eternal wrath in our place. Because of His willingness to take this final step, because He simply refused to turn against the will of His Father, we have been rescued from the wrath of God that was surely coming against us.

It should be clear to all of us that this humble request of Jesus, “Let this cup pass from me,” was denied. This urgent prayer that displayed such depth of sorrow was simply not possible. It was not possible for God’s mercy and justice to be gloriously displayed except through this soul-wrenching grief and atoning death. This was the only way, and it was so costly that the Son of God almost died from the grief of His consideration of what was ahead of Him.

What we cannot miss here is the humble submission of our Lord. “Not as I will, but as You will.” All of this was way out of our league. We did not have the necessary character to ever face the choice that Jesus faced, nor the record of perfect obedience to the Law of God that would make this payment satisfactory to the Father. He was the only One who really had the choice to go to the cross, and that was what He chose when He said, “As You will.”

Willingness and weakness (40-44)

The disciples were sleeping during this worst grief of their Lord. We are told in Luke’s gospel that they were weak because of their own sorrow. They knew that He was going to die. If they had not understood that fact, at least to some degree, their statements of readiness to die with Him would not have made much sense. Earlier in this gospel Peter had objected to the idea that the Christ would die. Now they seemed to have received that part of the message, though they did not yet seem to understand or accept the concept of His resurrection. All He asked them for in Gethsemane was one hour, and they could not seem to give it. They were overwhelmed with what had already taken place. Their sorrow sent them to sleep. Though they would have done well to watch and pray for their own sake, and though the spirit was willing, their flesh was weak. We feel this kind of weakness regularly in ourselves.

It was during this time when our Lord had no friend with Him who could stay awake, when He was about to die from His own grief, that He achieved such a great height of obedience to the plan of God for the salvation of sinners. We see here something that only He could have revealed to us; the perfect resolve of a submissive will, the kind of will that we should have every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer and say, “Thy will be done.” This experience would have been immensely powerful if it happened only once. The Lord prayed with this intensity three times. With the amazing strength of holy obedience He was now ready to die for us. There was no other way but the cross.

Thy will be done. (45-46)

It was time to go. It was time for the cross. Jonathan Edwards had things to say to his people, and he said what he thought he had to say, but then it was time to go. He would not be their shepherd any more.

Jesus went forward to His greatest act of shepherding love. He would soon lay down His life for His sheep. The time for sleeping was over, even among weak and grieving disciples. It was time to remember what they could remember from those things that they had been given so far, and to move forward with the plan of God. The Son of Man was about to be handed over to various authorities. His betrayer was arriving. Somehow this was the will of God. This was the price that had to be paid for your salvation. The cross would be the farewell sermon of Jesus Christ, written in lines of blood. There was no turning back, because there was no other way.

Do not think that something has gone wrong when you find that you have a grief that is so bad that you really wonder if it could bring about your death. Jesus had a grief like that for you, and He told us to follow Him. Do not waste your suffering. There are certain changes in us that can only be accomplished through grief. Take your refuge in the One who carried our sorrows. Do not waste His suffering. Do not miss the necessity of it. Do not miss the power, the efficacy, and the hope of it. There is no such thing as grief insurance in this life. When real loss strikes it is better to grieve and live, than to pretend that you don’t have to grieve. Jesus grieved. Grieve as you must. Rest and pray, but do it all with hope. Have confidence in the One who led the way for you, and who lives forever to intercede for you. Look for the resurrection to come. Turn to God when you feel all alone. Pray for great things with a humble submission to the will of God. That’s what Jesus did for you, and He was heard.

Questions for meditation and discussion:

1. Note David’s grief in 2 Samuel 15:30. How is this a reference point for what Christ faces 1000 years later?

2. How deep was Jesus’ grief here (see also Luke 22:44)? Why was He grieving? What is the significance of this?

3. What do you make of the role of the disciples in this episode (see also Luke 22:45)?

4. Is it weak and faithless for us to make all of our prayers conditional upon the Lord’s will?

How strong are we really?

“I Will Not Deny You”

(Matthew 26:31-35, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 5, 2008)

Matthew 26:31-35 ³¹ Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' ³² But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." ³³ Peter answered him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." ³⁴ Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." ³⁵ Peter said to him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!" And all the disciples said the same.

Introduction – Zeal and pride in little saints

Jesus Christ commanded that we must let the little ones come to Him, and that we should not hinder them. Sometimes we see wonderful examples of the Lord’s grace in very young lives. Their early achievements of faith and obedience are not always matched with commensurate works in later years. I do not mean to suggest that this negates the true expressions of faith that were in evidence when they were young. “All who call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” Yet the pathway of God’s grace in any one life may be too much for us to understand. I remember one great young student of mine who had a special way of saying, “The Lord Jesus Christ is MY Savior!” He certainly impressed me. I think of many little ones like Him that I have seen here and there in years gone by, and I imagine them saying, “Though they all fall away, I will never fall away.” I wonder if saints large and small sometimes overestimate our strength and fail to adequately consider the perfect strength and truth of God.

You will all fall away (31)

The disciples of Jesus Christ have been with Him for about three years now. It has not been easy. They each had to sacrifice time with friends and family. They have given up much in order to go where Jesus went, to listen to Him, and to do what He told them to do. They have seen an increasing hostility toward Christ and His followers from very powerful and important people in Israel. His disciples have been despised and rejected because He was despised and rejected.

Many others were interested in following Jesus in the same way these disciples followed Him, but they could not take it. Most of them left Him at one point in His teaching ministry (See John 6). There were still large crowds, but they were not following Him with the loyalty of the remaining eleven disciples (the twelve minus Judas). If staying with the Lord was just a matter of internal fortitude, the faint of heart would have left long ago. It would have been a much easier thing to be a follower of Jesus from afar, not risking the trouble that could come to those who were too closely associated with this man. Yet these eleven were all still there. Now Jesus announces to them something that seems completely impossible: that within a matter of hours they will all fall away from Him.

Because of me (31)

Why would they all fall away? We suppose that we know the answer to that question. It must be because of the danger of staying with a man that the authorities would soon arrest. Yet here we are told something slightly different that may surprise us. Our translation says, “You will fall away because of me.”

There is something great in these words, something of sovereign power, something of the grace that has kept them through these extraordinary three years of trial, but must seem to let them go for a little while in order for the glory of the moment to shine in the face of the crucified Savior alone. Something must be seen that cannot be obscured by other parties seeming to be the faithful ones. There must be this visible moment of faithlessness so that the Savior’s glorious obedience to the call of His Father will shine forth without any distraction from the people He came to save.

The exact words used here have to do with being caused to stumble over a stone. Jesus says to His beloved disciples that this stumbling will happen to them “in Me.” Every blessing that we have from God comes from being in Christ. Yet if Christ is to be glorified as the true Lamb of God on the cross, then at this moment, according to the plan of God, all who have been with Him for these three years must stumble over Him. They must be allowed to fall away, something they would have done so long ago if they had not been held so closely by the powerful grace of God. Who can understand the movement of faithfulness up and down over the course of our sorry lives? Yet we are kept by God though we fall. We slip for a time, yet we are picked up and held securely for eternity by our Savior.

It is written… (31)

They will all fall away. In this and in other passages we see an amazing array of details concerning the events that lead to the cross and the empty tomb. How is it that the Messiah knows all of these things surrounding His death and resurrection? Part of the answer is that Jesus perfectly understands and perfectly believes the Old Testament Scriptures. That is why He says, “It is written.” In this case the specific thing that He says is written is the statement, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.” This particular phrase is almost a direct quote of a verse from the Old Testament book of Zechariah. The phrase is almost a direct quote. It is not precisely the same. Let me read you the relevant portion of Zechariah 13:7.

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the LORD of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”

If you are particularly observant you may have noticed a very small but significant change in the words that Jesus spoke. The original said, “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” It does not precisely say who will strike the shepherd, although I think that we could have figured it out from the context in Zechariah, and by comparing this verse with other passages, especially Isaiah 53. What Jesus adds in His citation is the personal pronoun “I.” Jesus, referring to the Lord Almighty, quotes the sense of Zechariah this way, “I (the Lord) will strike the shepherd.” Jesus knows what will happen not only because He knows the Scriptures, but also because He has an inerrant interpretation of the Scriptures. God’s chosen Messiah, who is able to lay down His life in death, and is then able to pick it up again in resurrection, not only knows the Old Testament. He knows what it all means. Jesus is saying that His loving Father will strike the blow against Him on the cross so that God’s justice will be satisfied. He is also saying that when God does that, there is absolutely no doubt about it; the sheep, His disciples, will be scattered. They will all fall away. The one is able to add “I” to this verse knows what He is talking about.

After I am raised up… (32)

Jesus’ death and the scattering of the disciples will definitely happen. These two things are not the only things that will definitely happen. He speaks of two others in verse 32. First, He will be raised up. Second, He will then go ahead of them to Galilee. Perhaps you have focused more on the first of these statements than on the second. Remember that He had spoken of His resurrection from the dead before, and they did not really understand what He was talking about. Jesus is predicting that His going to Galilee is consistent with His existence as a resurrected man.

This point about going to Galilee is mentioned three times in chapter 28, and is also referred to by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. Galilee was to the north of Jerusalem. It was the place where the disciples came from. It was home for them on this earth. After Jesus ascended to heaven and the disciples were speaking in Acts 2, the crowd said, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?” Jesus is soon going to be the first immortal resurrection Man. He does not have to stay in Jerusalem or leave the earth. He is going to their home territory as the resurrection Man.

Even if I must die (33-35)

I can’t say that I understand all of the implications of that detail about going back to their home region, rather than just staying in Jerusalem. I have a suspicion that it is a hint about the importance of the whole earth in God’s eternal plans, and the importance of the places that we have all come to call “home,” since it is the Lord’s certain and revealed intention not only to bring about a glorious resurrection, but to have resurrected beings living right here on a renewed earth. I would have liked it if the disciples could have asked Him why He was going to Galilee as a resurrection Man, but they apparently did not have time for that. They were too busy unbelieving Him.

Verses 33-35 tell us that none of the disciples believed Jesus. As if to prove His point even before the cross ever happened, every one of them already scattered from Him in the unbelief of their hearts even before they scattered from Him with their bodies. The Lord quoted the Scriptures and told them they would all fall away. None of them believed Him, and all of them made a point of letting Him know about their unbelief out loud as we see in verse 35. Peter was sure that He would die first rather than abandon or deny Jesus, and they all said the same. In their strange pride, they seemed to completely neglect what He said about His resurrection and about going before them to Galilee, and instead they all insisted that He was wrong about their falling away from Him. Jesus responds with specificity, and Peter proudly boasts that he would never fall away and that the Lord of glory is certainly wrong.

As it turns out the Lord is not wrong about any of us. We would all have fallen away were it not for God’s power in keeping us. We have all disobeyed God in horrible ways. Jesus is right about some other things too. He will take the Father’s wrath for us. He will rise again, and His feet will walk on the ground in the place they called home. We’ll soon see what will happen with Peter, just as we see some of what happens with each other in our weaknesses. The Lord says nothing more about it here. There apparently is no point. They don’t believe Him. The rest of the story is coming soon enough in Matthew and in the other gospels and letters of the New Testament. It is an interesting story about faithlessness, forgiveness, and the glory of God. Despite all our pretended strength, the point is that there is one Man who will not fail in his commitments, the One who was alone when everyone was scattered. He is the great Shepherd of the sheep, and He is the only One who would soon die in order to be true to His Word.

Questions for meditation and discussion:

1. List the events that Jesus predicts in this passage. How could He be sure that all of these events would happen?

2. On the level of human choices, what does it mean that all the disciples would fall away because of Jesus?

3. What might make a person convinced that he would not fall into serious sin?

4. If God works all things for His glory and our good, how could He allow our foolish boasting and deep failures?