Matthew 26: 30-35 – Let’s not overrate ourselves!

Earlier at the Last Supper, Jesus told them about how He would be betrayed. Here He would tell them how every one of them would desert Him. Verse 30 tells us that when they had finished the Last Supper, He and His disciples sang a hymn as they made their way to Mount Olive. While they were on their way, Jesus continued to underscore what would happen after His betrayal. His focus here was not on what would happen to Him but what effect it would have on His disciples. Jesus told them that every one of them would desert Him. He quoted a part of Zechariah 13:7 to show that this event was foretold long before it would happen. In saying, ‘I will strike down the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered,” Jesus was again hinting about His impending suffering and death. He would be stricken and smitten. However, He also quickly added, telling them that He would be raised. And after He had risen, He would go before them to Galilee.

Peter took offence at the revelation that they would all desert Him. So He vehemently insisted that even if all of the others should fall away, he would remain loyal. This really shows that He didn’t even know himself. Pride always makes an over-estimation of oneself. What Peter did was sheer audacity. Haven’t we seen this in the mirror many a times? Peter failed to realize that loyalty is best made known in action and not in words.

It was precisely at this point that the Lord told him exactly what would soon take place concerning Peter. He told him straight to his face, saying, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Despite the clear warning, Peter was still very cocksure that he would remain loyal even if he had to die. What Peter said was also echoed by the rest of them.  

Whether we realize it or not, there is a possibility that we could become a Judas or a Peter. Looming large in our lives is both the possibility of a betrayal or desertion of the Lord. We must take a warning from Peter’s cocksure attitude. Both the accounts of the betrayal and the cockcrow are there to remind us of how we need to draw near to Jesus, our High Priest. They are meant to help lay bare our on-going need for God’s redeeming love.