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. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Matthew 26:31-33

Jesus warns his Apostles, now that Christ is going to the cross, many Sheep are  going to be scattered and fall away because many will be offended of Jesus. This was prophesied in Zechariah 13:7, which Jesus quotes “Strike The Shepherd and the sheep will be scattered” As we know Christ is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11) and we the Church (Christians) are his Sheep (John 10:14) As Christ prophesied in John 10, “I am the Good Shepherd , the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep” (John 10:11)

Peter makes a bold statement “I will never fall away or be offended, because of you” As we know Peter failed, as the majority of the Apostles hid for their lives while The Lord went to the cross. How many Sheep still today fall away to preserve their own lives? We see the Church scattering as the Liberal agendas are taking over our denominations, where are the Holy Spirit filled brothers and sisters to fight the takeover? Most of them have scattered and are hiding , or many have fallen away all together, and have abandoned the faith

Jesus said “Anyone who doesn’t take up their cross and follow me, is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38) Those who are not willing to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12) those who are not willing to lose their life for Christ , will never find eternal life (Matthew 10:39) Jesus then gave the good news “But after I am risen again, I will go before you” (v32)  Christ is Risen and defeated sin and death forever, this is the good news that we are already victorious through Jesus Christ (John 16:33)

Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. Matthew 26:34-35

Jesus prophecies to Peter, before the end of the night Peter will deny Christ three times. For Peter to hear this was shocking, and even after that, Peter vowed to never deny The Lord to even be willing to die for Christ, and the rest of the disciples said the same thing. But we know how the story goes, when push comes to shove, Peter denies he even knows Jesus three times.

Now before we keep beating up on Peter, we need to examine and ask ourselves, if we were in Peter’s shoes, would we have denied Christ also? It’s easy for us to say from our couch, No I would never deny Jesus, but when the sword is at your throat, will you still not fall away? Testing of our faith is a part of life, and as true Sheep of Christ, we need to get ready to endure it. 

If even its on a small scale in your daily life, how many co-workers or family members do you share your faith in Jesus with? Or if you see somebody on the street , do you share the gospel with them? Why not? Because you might offend someone? Or because your family might disown you? If you neglect to share Christ at these moments, then we are no better than Peter was, think about it!

Jesus is our Good Shepherd, we the Sheep know his voice and we follow him, the Shepherd laid down his life for the Sheep, never be ashamed of your Lord and Savior, Amen!