Scripture Reading: Matthew 26: 31-35; 69-75
As Jesus walked with his disciples from the upper room on the way to Gethsemane, He warned them of the peril into which they were about to enter. “All ye shall be offended because of Me this night.” Their trial would be very great. He quoted from an Old Testament prophet a word which described the situation as it was about to be: “I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad” (see Zech. 13:7). He knew what was coming. He would be smitten. He was the Shepherd and had kept His sheep in safe protection thus far. Now He was to be smitten and they would be exposed to the power of their enemies and His.
Yet even in the shadows of the gathering night He saw the breaking of the morning. “But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.” He was to be killed, but He would be raised again from the dead. He was not to be finally torn away from them. Death would not be defeat to Him. He was to lie in the grave, but He would come again and lead them once more, away beyond the grave. Hope never failed in the heart of Christ. He was never discouraged.
Peter was always the first of the disciples to speak. The most holy occasion could not awe nor quiet him. He had heard the Master’s warning, but he resented it. There was no need to fear for him, whatever others might do. “Peter answered and said unto him, though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.” His self-confidence was very strong. It was not possible, he said, for him to be untrue to his Lord. It was Peter’s rash boldness that made him weak. Jesus repeated His warning, making it personal. “Verily I say unto thee, that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice.” Still Peter resented the warning. “Peter said unto Him, though I die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee.” We would say that such solemn words spoken by the Master could never be forgotten to commit such a sin against his Master that same night. Yet the fact that Peter actually denied Him with such positiveness, and so repeatedly, shows how terrible the temptation was and how weak the strongest friend of Christ is in such an hour.
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