Bible Study series: Mark 14:27-31. Peter declared he would never do this. However, …..
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Scripture: Mark 14:27-31
27 Then Jesus said: “Everyone will fall away, because it is written:
I will strike down the shepherd,
And the sheep will be scattered [Zech. 13:7]
28 However, after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
29 But Peter said to him, “Even if everyone falls away, I won’t, by contrast.” 30 Jesus said to him: “I tell you the truth: today—this very night—before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But Peter was saying more strongly, “If it is necessary to die with you, I will in no way deny you!” Everyone else was also saying the same thing. (Mark 14:27-31)
Comments:
27:
The Greek word for fall away gives us our word scandal. But the meaning of the word back then could also mean “stumble” or “trip.” In this context, it means “fall away” even to be repelled by someone (BDAG). If he did not meet their expectations, then they tripped over him. They were just plain frightened, which reveals their commitment to him was shallow, when it came down to life or death, even though they were commissioned to work miracles in his name (Mark 6:7-13; and the seventy-two worked them as well, in Luke 10:17).
“because it is written:” This prophecy must be fulfilled. It is not positive, but Jesus was not making this up, and Mark was not retrofitting the prophecy to make the NT to conform to the OT. They really did deny him.
The above link has a table or quotes verses of the OT and NT side by side. But the fulfillment of prophecies goes much deeper and broader than this. It includes fulfilling patterns and themes and concepts. Jesus fulfills, for example, the sacrificial system and even Israel itself, as he is succeeding in carrying out God’s mission, which ancient Israel had failed in doing.
28:
Again, Jesus predicts his resurrection. It is stunning how much confidence he has in his Father and his Father’s plan.
The angel of the Lord told the women to tell the disciples to meet them in Galilee (16:7), where he will meet them.
29:
And so, not surprisingly, Peter speaks boldly, but he does not know what he is talking about. He does not read his own soul very well. He is the victim of irony, which says you believe that you know something, but you really don’t. A biblical example is Job and his friends. They were trying to figure out why Job met with disasters, and though they had a small level of understanding—and the poetry is beautiful—they really did not know as much as their confidence allowed. God showed up on the scene and told them so.
For a further discussion of irony, scroll down to vv. 53-65, right below the translation.
Jesus literally responds with three-fold time markers: “today, this night, before the rooster crows twice,” which corresponds to Peter’s three-fold denial (Strauss).
Likewise, Peter boastfully predicts that he would go to the death with Jesus. Jesus knew Peter better than Peter knew himself. He had little self-knowledge. The disciples said the same thing, but Mark trims their words because Peter has already been portrayed as representing the twelve (Mark 5:37; 8:29-33; 10:28; 11:21; 14:37; 16:7).
This is personal prophecy, pure and simple. But it was not very positive! Good thing Jesus restored him (John 21:15-19)!
6. Gifts of the Spirit: Prophecy
30-31:
Jesus said: “For whoever will be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father and with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).
The rooster won’t crow this morning until Peter denies three times that he knew Jesus. Jesus’s prediction sadly is about to come true (vv. 66-72). All the other disciples fled, as well (v. 50).
“I tell you the truth”: see v. 9 for more comments.
In his comments on vv. 29-31 commentator France quotes another commentator who paraphrases the verses on the parallels between a proud rooster and proud Peter’s boast that he would never desert Jesus:
‘This very night, before a cock has raised its voice twice to witness to its wakefulness to approaching dawn, you Peter will raise your voice not merely twice but three times, and not to witness to your wakefulness, but to witness to the wakelessness of your allegiance to me.’ So understood ‘the incident belongs … to a common biblical theme: man’s rebuke by the lower creation.’
Excellent!
GrowApp for Mark 14:27-31
1. Have you ever been ashamed of the gospel or even Jesus himself? How did God restore you?
2. Or how did he give you courage not to deny him in difficult circumstances?
RELATED
10. Eyewitness Testimony in Mark’s Gospel
2. Church Fathers and Mark’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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