Then said Jesus unto them,
All 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.
Read Chapter 26
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
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. Be offended and fall into sin, first the sin of weakness and cowardice in forsaking Me, your Master and Lord, in My Passion. "The terror of the disciples," says S. Leo, "was then excusable, nor did their sorrow sink into distrust." And further on, speaking of S. Peter"s denial, "The Lord saw not in thee a feigned faith, nor estranged love, but shaken resolution." It was thus that Marcellinus and many others, when asked whether they were Christians, and denied it through fear of tortures, sinned not directly against the faith, but merely against its open profession, in not daring openly to confess it.
But the Apostles seem to have stumbled in the faith, because, when they saw Christ seized by the Jews without defending Himself, they thought He was suffering either unwillingly or by compulsion, and as He could not del...
“For it is written, ‘I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ ” Zechariah the prophet says the same thing, only differently; and if I am not mistaken, God is addressed in the person of the prophet: “Strike the shepherd that the sheep may be scattered.” In harmony with these words is the psalm, which is recited in its entirety to the Lord: “For they persecute him whom you have struck.” The good shepherd is struck, however, that he may lay down his life for his sheep and that out of many flocks of wandering sheep there may be one flock and one shepherd. .
After this He mentions also a prophecy at once persuading them ever to give heed to the things that are written, and at same time making it plain that He was crucified, according to God's purpose; and by everything showing He was no alien from the old covenant, nor from the God preached therein, but that what is done is a dispensation, and that the prophets all proclaimed all things beforehand from the beginning that are comprised in the matter, so that they be quite confident about the better things also.
And He teaches us to know what the disciples were before the crucifixion, what after the crucifixion. For indeed they who, when He was crucified, were not able so much as to stand their ground, these after His death were mighty, and stronger than adamant.
And this self-same thing is a demonstration of His death, the fright and cowardice, I mean, of His disciples. For if when so many things have been both done and said, still some are shameless, and say that He was not crucified...
Then he said to them, “You will all fall away because of me.” After this he mentions a prophecy: “For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ ” He was urging them to be attentive to what has been prophetically predicted of his death and resurrection, and at the same time he wanted to make it plain that he was indeed crucified according to God’s purpose. All of this was to show that he was no alien from the old covenant or from the God who preached it. What was done in the Old Testament was a dispensation. All the prophets proclaimed all things beforehand from the beginning that are included in this salvation event. All this was to increase faith. And he teaches us to know what the disciples were before the crucifixion and what they did after the crucifixion. For indeed they who were not able so much as to stand their ground when he was crucified, after his death became mighty and stronger than adamant. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
