Context No. 2775 of 4322 · Mark

Mark 14:27-31: in context

27Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28However, after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.” 29But Peter said to him, “Although all will be offended, yet I will not.” 30Jesus said to him, “Most certainly I tell you that you today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31But he spoke all the more, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” They all said the same thing.

On the way to Gethsemane, Jesus tells the Twelve that all of them will fall away tonight, and he quotes the prophecy: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. But he adds a promise in the same breath: after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you into Galilee. Peter will have none of it. Even if everyone else falls away, he says, I will not.

Jesus answers with painful precision: this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. Peter only insists harder, and the others join him. Watch what Peter is doing. He is more certain of his own loyalty than he is of what Jesus plainly tells him about himself. His love is real, but his self-confidence is misplaced; he trusts his own resolve over the word of Christ. And notice the grace buried in the warning: after I am raised, I will go before you. The failure is foreseen, and the reunion is already promised.

Do I trust my own resolve to stay faithful more than I trust Jesus, who knows exactly where I will fail and has already planned to meet me after?

Sources

Mark 14:27: "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered."
Proverbs 28:26: "One who trusts in himself is a fool; but one who walks in wisdom is kept safe."
Luke 22:32: "But I prayed for you, that your faith wouldn't fail. You, when once you have turned again, establish your brothers."