Matthew 26:31

Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended in me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

PETER'S DENIAL WAS FORETOLD

The prophecy cited in Matthew 26:31 is Zechariah 13:7, and Christ's quotation of it sheds new light upon its meaning. It is God who will smite the shepherd. The Lord will lay upon him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:7). Thus, the crucifixion is God's doing. Christ will be the architect of his own death, as revealed in the conversation with Moses and Elijah on the mount of transfiguration. Satan and evil men will be used, not as designers, but as instruments of the divine purpose. The most comprehensive statement of this fact is in Isaiah 53, where, in addition to the foregoing, it is said that "It pleased the Lord to bruise him"; "He hath put him to grief"; and "Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin."

The Lord's revelation in this verse that all the disciples would be offended in him is a commentary on the general weakness and defenselessness of men apart from Christ. In the approaching hours when the Son of man would be among the slain, his disciples could not be strong. The Lord would be no longer with them. They would be cast upon their own resources, without his sustaining love and presence, and would quickly fall. So would any person; so would all people. The inference in this passage, then, is not the relative weakness of his disciples as compared with others, but the awful weakness of all people apart from their only Saviour and Redeemer.