All of You Shall be Offended - Matthew 26:31

Matthew the apostle wrote as Jesus and His disciples, “were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink you all of it. For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives”, and in chapter twenty-six and verse thirty-one of his book, Matthew writes how Jesus said, “all of you shall be offended because of me this night” where we read:

Then said Jesus unto them, All of you 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.

The verse reads, “Then said Jesus unto them, All of you shall be offended because of me this night:” Matthew began words, “then said” which means “at that time and moment uttered, declared and proclaimed” “Jesus” which refers to “the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate whose name means Jehovah is Salvation” “unto them” which means “to His disciples”, “All of you” or “each, every, the whole and everyone of the disciples” “shall be offended” which means “will be stumbled, enticed to sin, be caused to fall away and begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey” “because of me” or “on account of Jesus” “this night” which refers to “the very night in which Jesus was speaking”. Matthew shared how Jesus told His disciples that every one of them would be “enticed to sin and fall away from Him in distrust” that very “night”.

The verse continues, “for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.” Matthew added the words, “for” which means “because, since and on account that” “it is written” or “it is delineated or formed in letters upon on a tablet, parchment, paper or other material”, “I will smite” which means “I will afflict, stroke, cut down, kill and slay” “the shepherd” or “the herdsman, presiding officer, manager, director who is Christ the Head of the church”, “and the sheep” which means “and the time animals who are accustomed to graze” “of the flock” or “belonging to the body of those who follow Jesus as their guide and keeper” “shall be scattered abroad” which means “will be dispersed, winnowed, separated and strewed”. Matthew shared how Jesus referred to Zechariah chapter thirteen and verse seven where it reads, “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” as He referred to the way He would be killed and His disciples would disperse from Him.

When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus knew His disciples would “fall away” from Him because it was prophesied by Zechariah they would do so. God's plan of “salvation” for people was deliberate and purposed, and He knew well in advance what would happen to His Son. God desired people to be “saved” from their sins, and though Jesus would be crucified and His disciples would “scatter”, He continued His direction toward the cross. All who read these should consider carefully the plan and purpose of Almighty God and yield their lives to His Son Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord” and no more be “offended because” of Him.

Next time Matthew shares how Jesus says, “after I am risen again, I will go before you”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.