The Gospel Of Matthew Chapter 26 Part 6 Jesus Exposed Peter's Pride & Self Confidence

It may help to remember that this portion of Matthew's gospel is narrative, so it is not doctrinal, not something that is directly applicable to our Christian walk.

Of course, we can learn truths from narrative and the Spirit of God included narrative because we need to know the facts about the life of Christ.

Matthew 26:30  And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. 31  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. 32  But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. 

We previously looked at how Jesus and His disciples sang Hallel Psalms as they left Jerusalem and headed toward the Mount of Olives.

Jesus once again used an Old Testament prophecy and applied it to Himself.

Zechariah 13:7  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. 

Zechariah lived and ministered as a prophet of God during the Persian empire when Ezra returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the house of God.

His prophecies encouraged the people to work diligently even though they faced logistical problems and various enemies.

His father was a godly priest named Jehoiada who protected the last royal son in the line of King David when wicked Queen Athaliah sought to murder all the kings sons.

When this boy grew up, it was Jehoiada who made sure he was installed as king over Judah.

Zechariah was the son of Jehoiada and when he preached a stern message to the king, because he brought back the same idolatry that brought judgment from God.

This young king ignored the kindness and loyalty of Jehoiada and had Zechariah stoned to death.

It is of importance to note that when Zechariah was murdered by Joash's order, he callously said "The LORD look upon it, and require it." (See 2 Chronicles 24:20-22).

The LORD did indeed take note of this egregious sin and when denouncing the Pharisees, He said they were as guilty of God's judgment as King Joash was for killing Zechariah.

This Zechariah prophesied of the very night that Messiah would be betrayed and arrested.

Christ is the shepherd who would be smitten by His death on the cross.

When He was smitten, all the sheep (followers and disciples) would be scattered.

Jesus did not leave His disciples to wonder what would happen to them if Christ was killed.

Jesus told them that He would be resurrected and continue ministering to them in Galilee.

Matthew 26:33  Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. 

Impulsive Peter did not take long to give his opinion about what Jesus said to them.

Peter had too much self confidence, which resulted in his impulsive words or actions. 

It is as if Peter looked around at the other disciples and said "All these men might be offended and desert you, but I will never do that."

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

Jesus then prophesied specifically concerning Peter's boasting.

He said that before the night was over, Peter would deny Christ three times.

Peter reasserted that even if he had to die with Christ, he would not deny Him.

The remaining disciples affirmed what Peter said.

The smiting of the Shepherd began the sufferings of Christ. 

God awakened the sword of His wrath against the Son of His love, and He was smitten in accord with God's redemptive plan. 

The scattering of the sheep happened when Christ's  disciples fled. 

When Christ fell into the hands of His enemies, His disciples ran away in various directions. 

It was every man for himself as they sought to get away from those who intended to murder Christ.

Jesus told Peter that he would indeed deny Him this very night.

Jesus told Peter exactly how he would deny Him, by doing so three times.

One truth we must consider in this part of Matthew's narrative about Jesus' betrayal and arrest is this:

We are prone to be overconfident in our own strength or abilities.

When problems or afflictions come our way, we often try to correct the situation first, instead of taking it to the Lord in prayer first.

When we are told we should not do something because it is dangerous, we often attempt to do it anyway.

Proverbs 16:18-19  Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. 19  Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. 

King Solomon gave us wisdom that God gave him and it is recorded in two Old Testament books: Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

Here he reminds those who are self confident that pride goes before destruction.

Those who have haughty or arrogant spirits will surely be exposed and fall.

True humility before God is the spiritual antidote to pride and self confidence.

Proverbs 18:13  13  He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.

This text directly applies to Peter. He heard His Lord foretell that he would betray Him three times this very night.

Yet, he rushed impulsively ahead and said he would die with Christ and never deny him.

He answered rashly before his mind was engaged.

1 Corinthians 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 

This is probably the most familiar text regarding Peter's self confidence.

Let every Christian who thinks they are strong in faith and securely planted, take heed to remember that our old man of flesh is still very much alive.

In addition to our old sin nature, we also face an active enemy who seeks to cause us to sin and ruin our integrity and testimony for Christ.

Thus, we do well to take heed as the apostle urges us to do.

Peter lived with Jesus, walked with Him, saw His mighty miracles and heard His heavenly sermons for three and one half years.

And yet, Peter had pride and self confidence that needed to be addressed.

David was the sweet Psalmist of Israel and a man after God's own heart, but he committed a terrible sin with Bathsheba, and conspired to murder her loyal husband, Uriah.

Thus, we should never reach a point where we think "If it was me on the palace roof, instead of King David, I would not have committed adultery with Uriah's wife!"

The true reality is that we have the same carnal flesh and old man desires that David had to struggle with.

James 4:5-8  Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? 6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 

James helps us see the true reality for each believer in Christ. 

We have our old nature, that spirit of envy and lust. It is still alive even though we have a new heart and new spirit from God.

Therefore, we must shun self confidence and avoid pride.

God resists us when we are proud but He gives us His grace when we are truly humble before Him.

Genuine humility is when we agree with what God says about us, for then our heart is filled with love for Him who first loved us.

Thus, we must submit ourselves to God and this is what the Lordship of Christ means.

Jesus Christ bought us with a price and we now belong to Him. He is our Master and King and we ought to be His loyal subjects who are known for obeying His commands.

Faith and obedience is how we draw nigh to God and He draws near to us. 

He is faithful and just to cleanse us from all our sins when we confess them to Him.

Pride is what caused Lucifer (Satan) to rebel against God and be cast out of heaven.

This means that we must recognize how dependent we are upon the mighty help of God's indwelling Spirit, to keep us on the right track.

Galatians 5:16-17  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 

In Paul's terms, we still have our old man that we inherited from Adam, but the Christian also received a new man in Christ, resulting from the regenerating work of God's Spirit (See Titus 3:4-6).

Our flesh wants to satisfy fleshly, carnal lusts, but our new man in Christ wants to follow hard after Christ.

We must learn to walk in the Spirit, allowing Him to guide us, teach us and show us the path God wants us to walk on.

Our flesh is fighting against the new heart and spirit God gave us when we trusted Christ.

This is why we must learn to yield our thoughts, words and actions to the governance of God's Spirit.

He wants to produce His holy fruit in us, so that we can be a blessing to others, even to our enemies.

May the Lord of Glory guide us along in these truths and may He impress upon us the warnings about pride, arrogance and self confidence.

Bob