WWUTT 2111 You Will Fall Away Because of Me (Matthew 26:31-35)

When Jesus and his disciples finished the Passover meal and the Lord's Supper, Scripture says that they sung a hymn together.

What kind of song would they have sung? We might find the answer when we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it.

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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky, and greetings, everyone. In our study of the Gospel of Matthew, we are in chapter 26, picking up where we left off right after the

Lord's Supper. So I'm going to start reading in verse 30, and I'm going to go through verse 46.

We won't get that far in our reading today, but at least looking at that much in our text. This is from the

Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. And after singing a hymn, they went out to the

Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, 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. But after I have been raised,

I will go ahead of you to Galilee. But Peter answered and said to him, Even though all may fall away because of you,

I will never fall away. Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times.

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.

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to his disciples, Sit here while I go over there and pray.

And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed.

Then he said to them, My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death.

Remain here and keep watch with me. And he went a little beyond them and fell on his face and prayed, saying,

My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.

And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, So you men could not keep watch with me for one hour?

Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, My father, if this cannot pass away, unless I drink it, your will be done.

And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them again and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.

Then he came to the disciples and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting?

Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us go.

Behold, the one who betrays me is at hand. So this, of course, right after the

Passover meal that they have just enjoyed, this on a Thursday night, and really would be considered Friday at this point, because it's after sundown, could be even in the very early morning hours, one or two o 'clock in the morning, something like that, as they go into the

Garden of Gethsemane to pray, Jesus praying, his disciples falling asleep, and then, of course, at the conclusion of this, we have the mob coming to arrest

Jesus, to try him in the cover of night, and to put him to death. Just hours from this time,

Jesus will be hanging on a cross. Right when they finish the Passover, when they finish the

Lord's Supper, and all the things that Jesus taught them, we don't read about that in Matthew, Mark or Luke, but we do read about it in John, from chapters 13 to 17, we have the upper room discourse, where John recalls all the different things that Jesus taught to his disciples in those hours that they were probably up there in the upper room, partaking of the

Passover meal, and talking with one another. And after they finish all of that, it says in verse 30, they sang a hymn, and they went out to the

Mount of Olives. So this is a pun, giving the Lord's Supper to his disciples, reinstituting the

Passover meal, to remember what it is that Jesus is going to do for them, and for us, giving his body, spilling his blood as an atoning sacrifice, the cup representing the blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

And after all of that, it says in verse 30, they sang a hymn, and they went out to the

Mount of Olives. Now because that's said in the gospels, we as a church, it's always been our tradition in all the churches that I've been a pastor of.

Kansas, Texas, now Arizona. It's always been our tradition that when we finish the

Lord's table, when we finish in communion, we sing a hymn. In Kansas, it was

Amazing Grace. In Texas, it was the doxology, or the old 100th.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Now here in Arizona, it differs every time, because we practice the

Lord's Supper every Sunday. So we're going to sing a different hymn every Sunday. But what hymn would

Jesus and his disciples have sung? What might they have sung before going out from that place into the

Garden of Gethsemane? I'm going to give you my theory, and this really is the most likely answer for this question.

What hymn did Jesus and his disciples sing after they had the Lord's Supper for the very first time?

Well, it most likely would have been one of the songs of the Egyptian Hallel.

And we have the Hallel hymns in Psalms 113 -118.

So these are the psalms that were written remembering the

Israelites' time of slavery in Egypt, and that God delivered them out of that. And these hymns would likely have been sung around Passover, as the

Jews were gathering for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or the seven -day Feast of Passover.

As they gathered together in that place, they likely would have sung the songs of the

Egyptian Hallel. And one of those psalms, Psalm 118, beginning in verse 22, this is what we read.

The stone which the builders rejected is become the chief cornerstone. That sounds familiar, doesn't it? That's prophetic, pointing to Christ.

He fulfilled this. Verse 23, this is from Yahweh. It is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day which Yahweh has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Now that line you may know from a very popular praise song. It used to be popular anyway, big in the 70s and 80s.

It may not be as familiar to as many people today. But the song was,

This is the Day. And those are the lyrics. The lyrics are all verse 24. Psalm 118, verse 24.

This is the day, this is the day, which the Lord has made, which the Lord has made. We will rejoice, we will rejoice and be glad in it.

We probably did even a call and response sort of a thing at summer camp, at a Christian summer camp sometime.

I did. We did that at my Christian summer camp. So that right there is in Psalm 118, verse 24, prophetically talking about Christ and then saying this is the day which

Yahweh has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. What day is it that Yahweh has made?

It is the day of salvation. Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 6, verse 2.

At the acceptable time, I listened to you. And on the day of salvation, I helped you.

Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.

Telling the Corinthians, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ today. Today is the day of repentance.

Today is the day to come to Jesus and be saved. And so here we sing in Psalm 118, 24, this is the day which

Yahweh has made. What day is that? The day that Jesus died.

The day that he gave his life as an atoning sacrifice for sins. That is the day of salvation.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Oh, Yahweh, save. The Psalm goes on to sing.

Oh, Yahweh, succeed. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh. We have blessed you from the house of Yahweh.

Yahweh is God and he has given us light. Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.

You are my God and I give thanks to you. You are my God, I exalt you.

Give thanks to Yahweh for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

And all of that talking about the sacrifice of Christ. Wouldn't it be fascinating to learn that the hymn that Jesus and his disciples sang as they went out from the upper room to the garden of Gethsemane, they were singing

Psalm 118. The disciples may not have fully understood what it was referring to, but Jesus definitely would have.

And I wonder how much of when we read about his soul being troubled here, if maybe it was even singing that song and bringing to his mind what was about to happen that caused his soul to be grieved.

Jesus said in verse 38, My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and keep watch with me.

And keep watch meaning pray with me. So Jesus went into another part of the garden and he prayed.

And all of this immediately following that time with his disciples in the upper room. I just find those things fascinating to consider.

What song Jesus and his disciples may have sung. Well, right after that, right after singing a hymn and going to the

Mount of Olives, Jesus said to them, 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. This is, of course, a prophecy that comes from Zechariah chapter 13.

And it's there in verse 7 that we read, Awake, O sword against my shepherd and against the man, my associate declares

Yahweh of hosts. Strike the shepherd that the sheep may be scattered and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

And it will be in all the land declares Yahweh that two parts in it will be cut off and breed their last, but the third will be left in it.

And I will bring the third part through the fire and refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested.

They will call on my name and I will answer them. I will say they are my people and they will say

Yahweh is my God. And so what's being talked about there is not just that the

Christ was going to be crucified. That's the prophecy that's made in verse 7, but even that Jerusalem would be struck.

It would be the Romans that would come against Jerusalem referred to as the two thirds here, but a third will be left and all that is in reference to is a remnant.

It's not exactly two thirds of the Jews would perish or be hardened and a third would survive and come to Christ.

Those numbers aren't exact. It's figuratively demonstrating that the majority of the

Jews would either be struck down or be hardened and not come to God, but a remnant would remain that God would preserve for himself.

And so only those who are in Christ Jesus will be saved, Jew or Gentile. And God would show through the

Jews that survived how he would continue to reconcile both Jew and Gentile to himself through Jesus Christ, our savior.

But the shepherd would be struck that the sheep would be scattered. And Jesus saying to his disciples here that was that is what must first happen.

And that's what's about to take place just hours from their conversation right there in the garden of Gethsemane.

Maybe even less than that. For it is written, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.

And so this Jesus is saying to them to mean you will fall away. Something is going to happen here in this garden that's going to cause you to abandon me and run off.

And that's what Jesus says to them. But verse 32, he goes on to say, but after I have been raised,

I will go ahead of you to Galilee. And this is like what Jesus has regularly said to them about what must soon take place.

He said this, what, three or four other times since chapter 16, saying to his disciples, we're going to go back to Jerusalem.

I'm going to be arrested. I'm going to be put to death, but have no fear. I'm going to rise again.

He even tells them in advance that he's going to come back to life, but it's like they can't hear him say that.

This is not the expectation they have, right? We've considered that they're expecting

Jesus to be a Messiah that's going to sit on the throne in Israel, literally on David's throne as an emancipator to release them from the bondage that they are in because of the

Roman occupation. So they think that's what Jesus is going to do. And yet here he is telling them, the shepherd is going to be struck and you're all going to abandon me.

But since they're thinking in their minds that Jesus is going to ascend the throne, why would we ever abandon you if you're going to ascend the throne?

So they don't even hear him say, after I have been raised, and they might even be thinking that when he says raised, he's talking about gathering or he's talking about ascending the throne.

He's going to be raised up to the throne. He's going to be exalted to the throne of Israel. After I have been raised,

I will go ahead of you to Galilee. And that's not even registering with them.

It's falling on deaf ears. So that Peter responds in verse 33 and says to him, even though all may fall away because of you,

I will never fall away. And that is quite a proud statement.

I mean, it's those saying to his brothers that are right there, the other 10 disciples that are standing with him, remember

Judas is gone. He's bringing the mob with him and he's betraying

Christ at this very moment. So it's just the 11 disciples that are there with Jesus.

There may have been a few others, but we're just thinking of the 12. And when I say there may have been a few others because there were other disciples that followed

Jesus, but Jesus had the 12 that were the closest to him. So they would have been the ones that were right there.

They were in the upper room. They were with him closest to him in the garden of Gethsemane. And even

Peter, James, and John were closer to Jesus still. So Peter makes this comment, even if these 10 other men fall away because of you,

I won't, I will never abandon you. I will go to my death for you.

That's essentially what Peter is saying. And Jesus says to him, truly

I say to you that this very night before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times.

But Peter is indignant and said to him, even if I have to die with you,

I will not deny you. I know that may seem noble. I know we may read that and go, oh,

Peter just loves his Lord. And it was very disrespectful. In fact, it was as if to call

Jesus a liar, because here is Jesus prophetically telling Peter, here's exactly what's going to happen to you.

And Peter saying, no, no, I would never do such a thing.

You're wrong. Telling the perfect sinless son of God that he's wrong.

Peter is not being humble here. He's quite prideful. He's full of himself.

But he says, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. All the disciples said the same thing too.

The same thing was in their hearts. We won't ever leave you. And yet Jesus knows that's exactly what's about to happen.

And yet he loves them anyway. Even though they're going to get scared, they're going to run away the moment that Jesus is arrested.

This is not how they saw this thing playing out. They thought we are going to rise up and conquer. And they're all going to cower before you because of the amazing miraculous things they do.

So we know we're on the right side here. They are not expecting Jesus to be arrested, though he's told them this.

He's told them this again and again. It's not what they're expecting. And so once it finally does happen, where does all their courage go?

Their courage was all bound up in themselves instead of trusting in the word of Christ. And so once Jesus is arrested, they flee.

So a lesson that we can learn from this is to trust the word of Christ. Not trust in ourselves, not trust in our own ability, not even trusting in our best intentions.

They don't sustain us. They don't fill us with confidence and courage when a day of trial comes.

If we're going to make it through our trials, if we're going to endure to the end, we must trust the words of Christ.

We must continually draw near to him, thinking less of ourselves and making much of Christ.

We know here by what transpires from this point on that Jesus is arrested, he is put to death on a cross, but then he rises again from the dead, just as he says to his disciples, and goes ahead of them to Galilee.

That's what we read about at the end of the book of Matthew. The very last scene at the conclusion of Matthew is

Jesus talking with his disciples on a mountain in Galilee. And so we know what is going to take place here, not just for his disciples, but even for all who would believe on his name.

If you believe in Jesus, you know that your sins are forgiven. And as Paul says in Romans 8, if God is for us, who can be against us?

As we read in Hebrews, what can man do to me if God is on our side?

And so do not lose heart. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Put your faith and trust in Jesus, and he will sustain you to the end.

Heavenly Father, as we read what we have read here, I pray that we don't have the kind of pride that Peter had.

We're not self -reliant. We're not depending on ourselves. We don't think too much of ourselves, thinking I can do this just fine on my own.

But we listen to Christ and his word. We draw near to you through what we study.

We pray to you, expressing our hearts, sharing ourselves. Whenever we are tempted by something, we don't try to overcome those things on our own.

Because if we try from our flesh to overcome our flesh, where's that going to lead us? Instead, we draw near to Christ, and by the strength of God, resist temptation, and do the thing that is holy and pleasing in your sight.

Forgive us our sins. Lead us in paths of righteousness, for your name's sake. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes.

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