Anchor My Faith

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Author: Stephen Weller
576 words, 3 minutes read time

Second Prediction of Falling Away

Scripture: Matthew 26:31-33; Mark 14:30-31

With the previous lesson we finished our time with Jesus in the upper room and are now on our way to the Mount of Olives. With this lesson we will cover a short section in which Jesus predicts for the second time that Peter will deny Jesus and fall away from him.

^{Mt 26:31} 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.”

It is growing later in the evening as Jesus and the disciples head toward the Mount of Olives and as they walk along together, Jesus continues to talk with them about what will happen when Judas and those with him come to arrest Jesus. He tells them that they will not stand with him when they come but will all forsake him. Jesus then quotes from Zechariah 13:7 ESV: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Jesus then looks ahead to the time after his death on the cross and tells them that he will be raised up from the grave and, even though they all forsake him, he will graciously meet the remaining eleven disciples in Galilee.  

^{Mt 16:33} Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”

Leave it to Peter to stick his foot in his mouth a second time and in his pride tell Jesus that he is better than the other disciples and will never fall away, thus denying both scripture and the prediction of Jesus. The first time Peter promised to stand by Jesus was covered in lesson H651 when we covered Luke 22:33 and John 13:37.

^{Mk 14:30} And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

Jesus responds to him, as he did the first time, that Peter would deny him three times that very night before the rooster crows twice. When Jerry Peyton laid out this harmonization, he pointed out five times when Peter would deny Jesus. We will watch and see where the other two are.

M^{k 14:31} But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

Peter was insistent and said, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” As I write this I think of Proverbs 16:18 ESV: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Based on this, Peter has set himself up to fail. This pledge of faithfulness, on the part of Peter spreads, to the other disciples as they promise to stand with Jesus. Remember back in lesson H648, Judas left the upper room to go meet with those who would come to arrest Jesus. As the remaining eleven disciples are promising faithfulness, Judas is preparing for the arrest of Jesus.

Conclusion

In this lesson, Peter and the remaining ten disciples make a promise that they will remain faithful to Jesus at the time of his arrest. This is the second time that Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him in the face of persecution.