His Word Stands

Author: Joseph

Date: December 8, 2024

The disciples went with Yeshua to the Mount of Olives after singing a hymn at the end of their Passover meal together. At the Mount of Olives, Yeshua revealed to His disciples, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered’” (Matthew 26:32).

The disciples protested such a thing should happen, beginning with Peter, who claimed that even until death he would not deny Yeshua. Yeshua then affirmed Peter’s own denial would happen, not once, but three separate times all on the very same night they were speaking. The sign of confirmation being that the rooster would crow three times once Peter’s denials were completed.

Yeshua not only knew that they would be scattered, as was prophesied, but He knew the exact circumstances by which they would do so, as seen in the example of predicting precisely how Peter would deny Him. Yet, the disciples still insisted that Yeshua was wrong and that they would never deny Him:

“Peter said to Him, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.’ All the disciples said the same thing too” (Matthew 26:35).

It wasn’t a manner of testing that they could overcome, but rather, that their hearts and minds were already known to God that they would deny Yeshua when the time came. Yeshua, God in the flesh, knew the disciples better than they knew themselves. Yet the denial of even His words predicting their betrayal already proved that they would also deny Him later that night.

In the same manner, when we deny what God has revealed through the Scripture, we are already placing ourselves in the position of denying God in other areas of our life. This is why it is imperative that we trust and put our complete faith in all that God has said and given to us through the Scriptures. If we doubt even one part of His words, we will deny Him again, and very likely not just in one manner, but in multiple ways, just as Peter’s denial was threefold upon his initial denial of Yeshua’s prophecy.

And like Peter, we may attempt to try and prove ourselves to God. Peter’s “I will not deny you,” were words of arrogance. In Peter’s mind he thought of himself as loyal even until death, yet Yeshua prophesied that not only once, but three times Peter would deny Him to preserve himself when the time came for persecution. Peter’s words were also self-defeating because he was denying the very words of God, Who knows the very hearts of men (Psalm 94:11; Proverbs 17:3; 21:2). Even if Peter was able to convince himself that he would endure, God knew even before the persecution began.

We have nothing to prove ourselves before God, but only to accept His words, whether we find them favorable or not. And instead of attempting to deny His words, it would be better that we request of Him how we may seek His will even in unfavorable circumstances. What if Peter had asked “Lord, I do not want to deny you, though you say we will be scattered from you. What is the purpose in this happening to us?” But Peter’s response revealed where his heart was struggling.

Up until this point as you may have read the passage before, you may have understood Yeshua’s words as predicting betrayal, but that is not so. Rather, the manner in which the disciples reacted to Yeshua’s words predicted the manner in which they would be scattered. What if, instead the scattering of the disciples didn’t have to be out of fear of suffering like Yeshua, but out of a sense of mission, to preserve their witness and to be ready for his resurrection?

And yet even aside from this possible perspective, Yeshua already had planned for Peter and the other disciples (Judas had already left His presence at this time), to meet with Him again, saying, “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee” (Matthew 26:32). Yeshua knew their hearts were weak and that they would not suffer for Him at that time, but He also told them where to meet with Him again because He also knew that though they would be weak for a time, they would continue to pursue Him afterward. In these words Yeshua spoke to His disciples, already included were words of comfort. His disciples were told where to meet with Yeshua after His time of suffering has passed.

Do not be stubborn nor arrogant as to deny the words of God, no matter how they disturb you. Embrace His words as truth and then instead of denying them, seek His will and to follow after Him. Peter and the disciples would meet with Yeshua again after His time of suffering, but for a time they had to be scattered according to the will of God. Whatever purpose God had for them in being scattered, it would have been better to accept it than to reject it. Then instead of seeing the matter as a thing of personal pride and approval, they may have embraced His words with humility and submission to the will of God. Likewise, be yourself humble and submit to God in whatever He has planned for you.

Matthew 26:30-35

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org