Mat 26:31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended
because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
Zec 13:7 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.
This particular prophecy, spoken by Jesus in Matthew's gospel, was
fulfilled when His
disciples did scatter following His betrayal and arrest. This
scattering of His closest disciples also fulfilled the prophet
Zecharia's words of Zecharia 13:7, which says, "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". This prophecy of Jesus is not a prophesy spoken by One Who
will be glad or
celebratory that His prophecy had come to pass. First of all
jubilation over a fullfilled prophecy would be the mark of one not sure
of the prophecy that he had
told. Jesus is prophecying what He knows to be the truth.
He is the Alpah and Omega, the beginning and the end. He knows
the future as well as the present. He also knows the past as well
as He knows the present. "Let Us make man in Our image".
Jesus was
there and He Who is the Word of God spoke all that is, into
existence. He was no mere hit some, miss some, Johnny come lately
prophet. He was and is the Great I Am, the knower and originator
of all truth. It did not surprise Jesus when any of His
prophecies came to pass. Secondly this was a somber
prophecy. Jesus came to this earth to die. Revelation 13:8
tells us that Jesus was slain from the foundation of the earth.
What grace God has shown to mankind, even before this sinning race was
created, God had devised a way for us to be saved from our sin.
Many times
however, during His earthly ministry, Jesus would say that it wasn't
yet
His time to die for our sin. Not everything
had yet been accomplished that He needed to accomplish. But now,
with everything accomplished, save His sacrifice on the cross, He had
set His face like a flint toward that cross of sacrifice. And
looking through time at that moment, knew that He would die almost
alone. His mother would stay as close as allowed, but his
disciples would scatter, one disciple would swear an oath by
God's name that He did not know this Man, meaning Jesus. Still
Jesus loved these
men and showed nothing but kindness to those who would desert
Him.
After Jesus says these somber words about His disciples being offended
of Him that night, Peter responded by saying, "Though all [men] shall
be
offended because of thee, [yet] will I never be offended." Jesus,
again showing that He knows all things even those yet to come, said to
Peter, "Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow,
thou shalt deny me thrice." Peter then toldl Jesus, "Though I
should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." The other
disciples echoed the statement made by Peter. Here you have a
group of men, the closest friends to Jesus on this earth, telling Him
that He is wrong. They are telling Him that what He sees in the
future and what He sees about their character is wrong. It is
difficult for these men to hear the words that Jesus says about them in
this situation. It is hard to hear and to see the truth about
ourselves. This is why so many in the world are offended by
Him in our day. To believe in a Savior one has to first know and
acknowledge that he is in need of salvation. It is painful to
realize for some that there is a God and you are not it. Jesus
here actually gives another prophecy, "Verily I say unto thee, That
this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." It
would not be terribly unusual to hear a rooster crow around Jerusalem
in that time period. It would, however, be unusual to hear one
crow
at night, and at the precise time that Peter denied his Savior the
third
time, once even saying an oath on God's name that He did not know
Jesus. Let's not beat Peter up too much though. All of the
disciples fled, all denied that they had been with Jesus. All of
these men scattered and only one, the disciple whom Jesus loved, John,
was there for Him while He was crucified for my sin and yours, and for
all the sin of the world.
Are you in need of the Savior, but are offended by Him and the nature
of His sacrifice? Does the cross offend you? After Jesus
was risen from the dead, He sent word by an angel to tell the disciples
and Peter to meet Him in Galilee. This is found in Mark 16:7,
"But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you
into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you." Jesus
knew that Peter would
need special encouragement because He had been the most strident of the
disciples against the words of Jesus that the disciples would be
offended and scattered. This word to the disciples and the manner
in which it
singles Peter out, would let Peter know that there was forgiveness and
peace with God. If you have been offended of Him there is
forgiveness. All you have to do is to repent and accept this
forgiveness. These men repented and Peter repented. How do
I know this? By watching their actions in the rest of the New
Testament, especially in the book of Acts. There was no more
shrinking back, no more offense at the cross. There was a
boldness, a strength, and an annointing by the Holy Spirit that we see
at the first part of the book of Acts, especially in the second chapter
where Peter preached a sermon after being filled with the Holy
Spirit. If you are in need of salvation, you will find it at an
old rugged cross. Come to Jesus.
Were you at one time saved by the cross, but now are offended by it and
have replaced salvation by the cross with another gospel. Have
you replaced the good news of the gospel with something less offensive
to you and more appealing to your need to be your own god? Come
back to the cross where Jesus died for you. It is not too
late. Come back to a Savior who is mighty in words and
deeds. Come back to a Savior who offends the haughty, and lowers
Himself to lift up the humble. Come to Jesus.
What a prophecy, what a Savior. I am so thankful that He was not
so offended by me that He would bypass a cruel cross and allow me to be
lost forever. How could I be offended of One such as this?
Hallelujah, what a Savior!!!
By Marty Griffith