COMMENTARY ON MARK
LESSON 153
Mark 14:27 “And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. 28 But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. 29 But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. 30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice. 31 But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.”
(Mark 14:27-31; Matt 26:26-30; Luke 22:31-34; John 13:36-38)
THE DISCIPLES WOULD ALL BE OFFENDED
INTRODUCTION
It is the night during which Jesus would be betrayed, and the events leading to His death will commence. Yet, even though the gravity of this time can scarcely be imagined, Jesus spends an extraordinary evening with His disciples, teaching, preparing, and caring for them as a Shepherd does His sheep. In an act of humility, and in confirmation of the nature of a servant of God, He washed their feet (John 13:4-15). He divulges to John who will betray Him (John 13:24-26). He reveals that He is going away, and will be preparing a place for them (John 13:33-14:6). He reveals that the Holy Spirit will be given to them (John 14:16-17,26; 15:26–27; 16:13-15). He teaches them concerning the Vine and the branches (John 15:1-8). He reveals the Spirit’s convicting ministry (John 16:7-11). He declares the time is coming that they will have access to the Father in His name (John 16:23-28). He prayed His great intercessory prayer (John 17:1-26). In these communications Jesus was revealing the nature of New Covenant life. It is one in which spiritual intelligence and understanding is acquired, and the experience of the world’s rejection, as well as the obtaining of the mind of Christ, are obtained. Because Jesus would put away sin, there would be a dramatic shift in the kind of relationship men would have with God. It would no longer be based upon doing, ceremony, and mere outward conformity. The era of the New Covenant would be one of personal and profound involvement – just as took place that last evening Jesus spent with His disciples. Yes, it would even transcend the closeness of that sacred time.
THE SHEEP WILL BE SCATTERED
“ Mark 14:27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.
OFFENDED. In the closeness and intimacy of that holy hour, Jesus reveals that before that very night is over, all of His disciples – the very ones seated around that table – would be offended because of Him. Instead of “offended,” other versions read “made to stumble,” NKJV “fall away,” NASB “become deserters,” NRSV “turned away from Me,” BBE “lose faith in Me,” CJB “run away,” CSB “abandon Me,” GWN “have your faith shaken.” NAB The word “offended” is a strong word meaning “to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way . . . to cause or make to stumble.” THAYER Other texts that confirm the strength of this word are Matthew 5:19 (about our eye offending us), Matthew 13:21 (concerning the one without root falling away), and Matthew 18:6 (declaring the woe experienced by anyone offending one of these little ones who believe in Christ).
BECAUSE OF ME. This phrase is omitted in most of the later versions. It is, however, included in Matthew’s account (Matt 26:31), and is so rendered in the versions excluding it from Mark 14:27. There is no question concerning it validity. Furthermore, this is a critical point. The disciples – “all” of them – would be “offended,” or fall away, because of Jesus Himself. It would not be owing to their own lives being threatened, or because an initiative was launched against them by Jews. The attack would come against Jesus, and the disciples would fall away, stumble, and abandon Him because of it.
During His ministry Jesus once said, “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me” (Matt 11:6). Other versions read, “who keeps from stumbling over Me,” NASB “who does not fall away on account of Me.” NIV It is possible to be so wrapped up in oneself that Jesus does not come up to the individual’s expectations. That is what prompts statements like, “Why did this happen to me?” “Why doesn’t Jesus answer my prayer? I have done everything I know to do.” When a person believes only for a while, and then falls away (Lk 8:13), it is because they are offended in Christ. He is perceived as requiring too much, being unreasonable in His demands, or not proving to be everything He said He was. In such responses, the soul has stumbled over Jesus. This is because they have not seen Him as He really is. This is what prompted Cleopas to say, “But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done” (Luke 24:21).
On the very night Jesus spoke these words, when He was arrested in the garden, it is written, “And they all forsook Him, and fled” (Mark 14:50). They were offended because of Him. John tells us more of what Jesus said concerning this matter. “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me” (John 16:32). Being of tender heart, how Jesus must have sorrowed over the contemplation of His disciples forsaking Him – stumbling over Him on that dark night. Yet, He told them what they would do, in order that after He had risen from the dead, they might recall their action and not speak so brashly about what they would and would not do. It is good that we learn from Christ’s words about our frailty – i.e. “The flesh is weak” (Matt 26:41) – instead of having to acknowledge it the hard way.
IT IS WRITTEN. “I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.” The prophecy is found in Zechariah 13:7, one of the great Messianic affirmations. “Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn Mine hand upon the little ones” (Zech 13:7). The “sword” refers to the administration of Divine justice. In this case, that justice, and even wrath, would be focused upon the Son of God. He would suffer the curse of God and the outpouring of His indignation because He was bearing the sins of the world – sins that God Himself had “laid on Him” (Isa 53:6). The awful reaction of God Almighty to the sight of sin was confirmed to the ultimate degree when Jesus was “made a curse for us” (Gal 3:13). The sight of sin, even in His well Beloved Son, awakened the sword of Divine justice and retribution. Men do greatly err in imagining that God can look complacently at sin, tolerating it and bearing long with its presence while men stumble about in the dark as though redemption had somehow caused God to be more tolerant of sin.
The stumbling point was the cross, or death of Jesus. When it appeared hopeless for the flesh, the disciples fled, even though it was God’s will that was being done (John 19:11; Acts 2:23). Yet, in His tender mercy, God, having judged sin in Christ, would turn His hand to the scattered disciples, and gather them again to Jesus. For the disciples, this was not a permanent or lengthy scattering, but for the Jews as a nation, the scattering would be significant, and for a lengthy period. Their house would be left “desolate” because of their rejection of Christ (Matt 23:38). Yet, God will gather then again (Rom 11:26-27). God is greatly to be praised for His gracious gathering – placing His hand upon the “little ones.”
PETER AFFIRMS HE WILL NEVER BE OFFENDED IN JESUS
“ 28 But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. 29But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. 30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice. 31 But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.”
AFTER THAT I AM RISEN. Jesus had spoken of His resurrection before (Matt 16:21; 17:9,23; Mk 9:9; 14:28; Lk 9:22). Now He mentions it again – but none of the disciples fasten on His words. After He rose from the dead an angel instructed the holy women to go to the disciples and tell them to meet Him in Galilee (Matt 28:7). The angel told the women, “He is not here, but is risen: remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee” (Luke 24:6). This confirms the word was not intended for the twelve alone.
I WILL NOT! Peter takes hold of what Jesus has said with his intellect, not his heart. At this time, he did not mix his hearing with faith. When Jesus has said one of them would betray Him, each one of them asked if he was the one who would commit this dreadful deed. But this time Peter does not respond in such a manner. He is willing to concede that the other disciples might very well be offended in Christ, but he is sure he is not in that number. “Even if they all fall away and are caused to stumble and distrust and desert You, yet I will not [do so]! AMPLIFIED His immediate reaction in the garden, when he drew his sword against a legion of soldiers, confirms Peter did not have any known propensity to deny Christ. This was not an area of confirmed weakness in the apostle, and therefore he could not see himself as capable of doing such a thing. This was not a sin that “so easily beset” Peter (Heb 12:1-2). Surely he must have thought the Master’s assessment to be wrong. Many a poor soul has imagined that because they do not have a history of this or that weakness, surely it will never be found in them. They see their experience as being more broad than it really is.
Peter raises himself to a level above the other disciples – “even if they all fall away.” The “all” referred to the other disciples. Within less than three weeks, Jesus will appear to His disciples for the third time and pointedly ask Peter, “lovest thou Me more than these?” (John 21:15-17). Was there really the distinction between Peter and the other disciples that he himself had suggested? You may be sure that any genuine distinction was strictly owing to the conferment of a special dispensation of grace upon Peter, and not any natural trait he possessed. That special measure was revealed when Jesus said he would give Peter the keys to the kingdom (Matt 16:19).
EVEN IN THIS NIGHT! To underscore the imminency of the disciples forsaking Him, and the sure involvement of Peter himself in that falling away, Jesus declares something Peter will do before this very evening has concluded. “Truly I tell you, this very night, before a cock crows twice, you will utterly deny Me [disclaiming all connection with Me] three times.” AMPLIFIED That word must surely have been like a “hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces” (Jer 10:4). To think that on this night, when Jesus had washed the disciples feet, and spoken to them in a most tender manner, Peter would not only deny any association with Jesus, but do it three times, was unthinkable – at least to Peter. But, alas, there would be much more activity on this night than Peter dared to imagine. He spoke within the context of human experience. However, he would experience something on this night that he had never before experienced. Further, Jesus gives Peter a sign so that when he does deny Him, he will be able to recall what the Lord said to him on this night. He will deny Jesus three times before the rooster crows twice. Thus shall he have stooped beneath the status of an unintelligent fowl.
MORE VEHEMENTLY. Peter insists that his assessment of the case is precisely correct – which suggests that Jesus is wrong in what He has said. In the place of “vehemently” other versions read “insistently,” NASB “emphatically,” NIV and “vehemently and repeatedly.” AMPLIFIED Matthew provides more of Peter’s reasoning: “Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny thee” (Matt 26:35). John relates Peter’s words also, “I will lay down my life for Thy sake” (John 13:37). There was no doubt in Peter’s mind concerning the correctness of his words. If the preachers are teachers who present a corrupt view of the power of life and death being in the tongue are correct, Peter’s words will come to pass, for they were not spoken in hypocrisy. He was convinced that what he said was the truth. That night, however, he will find out first-hand that because we are convinced something is the truth and speak it out, that by no means indicates that our words are true, or that they will come to pass. Men do well to divest themselves of any and every theological view that does not stand up in the hour of trial. Faith – true faith – stands bold and erect in the crucible of conflict.
LIKEWISE SAID THEY ALL. The words spoken by Peter were not confined to him. All of the other disciples avowed that what Peter had said was true of them also: “And they all kept saying the same thing.” AMPLIFIED None of them – not a single one of them – could believe themselves capable of denying the Lord one time, much less three in the same night.
JESUS REVEALS THAT SATAN HAS DESIRED PETER
“ 31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. 33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. 34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.”
Luke reveals more of the details of that evening. Jesus spoke to Peter concerning activities that were not apparent. Indeed, had Jesus not revealed this circumstance, there is no possible way that any of the disciples would have known about it. In this account we learn that certain things taking place on the earth are driven by unseen influences. Some things really have nothing to do with the works of men – with either rewards or punishment. We do well to learn these things, and add them to our arsenal of knowledge. As Jesus said, “Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old” (Matt 13:52). Here is a morsel of spiritual understanding that every communicator of truth must have in his treasury. I have added these remarks because they have immediately to do with Peter’s response and the prophecy of Jesus concerning his three-fold denial of Himself (Lk 22:33-34).
SATAN HAS DESIRED YOU. There are activities that involve the people of God that do not have their genesis in the world. They are not driven by worldly circumstances. They have nothing to do with how we have responded to this or that, or whether or not we are in certain places at certain times. They are independent of the human will or self-conceived plans or desires. They have more to do with whether or not we have been blessed by the Lord, or have been singled out by Him for some special purpose, or because we are precious to Him.
This is not the first time that we have read of Satan setting his eyes upon a particular person. Twice he sought for access to Job, who was “perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil” (Job 1:1,6-12; 2:1-7). On both occasions, the Lord gave Satan leave to do what he wanted with Job, placing a limitation on how far he could go (Job 1:12; 2:6). On another occasion, we are given to see “Joshua the high priest” standing before the angel of the Lord, and “Satan standing at his right hand to resist him” (Zech 3:1). In this case, Satan’s desire was also thwarted, he was rebuked, and Joshua was plucked from the fiery trial, and his iniquity caused to pass from him (Zech 3:1-4).
Now, Jesus informs Peter that Satan has also set his attention on him. The wicked one sees in Peter a certain threat, knowing that Jesus has caused him to be preeminent among men, and has even given to him the keys to the kingdom. While Satan is not omniscient, he does know what God has said to the sons of men, as confirmed by him quoting Scripture (Matt 4:6). We also learn from this that Satan was not content with Judas – he wanted the rest of the apostles also, for the words here indicate that “you” is in the plural – all the apostles in general, and Peter in particular: “that he might sift [all of] you like grain.” AMPLIFIED
SIFT YOU AS WHEAT. The idea is that Satan desired to tempt Peter in various ways to bring out any weakness that he had – like separating wheat from the chaff. However, with Satan, Peter’s faith was viewed as the chaff that would not be able to stand up under difficult tests and trials. Just as surely as the devil thought Job would cave in under great trials, so Satan was convinced he could overthrow Peter’s faith if given leave to tempt him in extraordinary ways. It is evident that Jesus had been protecting the disciples during his ministry. Now, however, Satan asks for permission to put Peter through the sieve of testing, and all of the other disciples also. He imagines himself, if given permission, to be invincible in his quest.
I HAVE PRAYED FOR YOU. Here is something on which the devil did not reckon. He was not the only one who would speak to God about Peter. Jesus will also speak in his behalf, asking the Father to see to it that Peter’s faith does not fail, fall, or dissipate in the flames of the refiner’s fire. Jesus spoke of those whose faith did fail in the time of temptation (Luke 8:13). And, indeed, if Jesus is not active in the situation, Peter’s faith will also fail. The word “fail” means utterly fail – so that Peter would fall beyond the point of recovery. In praying that Peter’s faith will not fail, Jesus is praying that he will stand up again after he has been knocked down (2 Cor 4:9) – that he will be able to recover himself from the snare of the devil (2 Tim 2:26). We must learn that when we do recover, it is not through some automated process, like a rubber ball bouncing back. Our recoveries, renewals, and triumphs are more owing to the activity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. than to our own feeble endeavors.
WHEN YOU ARE CONVERTED. Here recovery is referred to as conversion. To “convert” means to “turn again,” NIV “turn back,” NRSV and “have returned to Me.” NKJV When men recover, let them strengthen their brethren by testifying to their renewal, and encouraging them with assurances of grace “to help in the time of need” (Heb 4:16). Perhaps some of them are being sifted at the moment, and will gain renewed determination from one who has triumphed by grace.