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![]() ![]() But in studying through this passage anew, I must repudiate that statement. He said to them, "You will all fall away for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'" In my earlier study in the book of Hebrews entitled, What More Can God Say?, I say that in my understanding Jesus did not expect what would happen in the Garden of Gethsemane. And, as they went, Jesus quoted from the prophecy of Zechariah. It is significant that the closing verse of the great Hallel includes these words, "Bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar," (Psalms 118:27b NASB)Īs they sang those words, they left the upper room and made their way down across the darkness of the Kidron Valley, into the shadows of Gethsemane's garden. Hallel is the Hebrew for "Praise to God" and these psalms focus on one theme: Hallelujah. This was the traditional hymn called the great Hallel that was sung at the close of the Passover Feast. ![]() Unquestionably, it was the Scripture we now know as Psalms 113-118. I am sure that as he thought and meditated on these events and prayed about them before the Father, the Spirit made known to him details not recorded in Scripture, so that it was clear to him what was going to happen.įor example, the very hymn that Jesus and the disciples sang as they left the upper room was a part of the Old Testament. He understood what the divinely-appointed program was, as revealed through the prophets. Our Lord knew what was going to happen because he pored over the Scriptures. We have seen how, sometimes weeks ahead of time, he has made preparation for a certain person to be in a certain place doing a certain thing, in anticipation of fulfilling a Scripture in the Old Testament. ![]() It has been suggested before this, through various incidents, that the Lord seems to understand fully what the divine program is, anticipates it, even makes arrangements for it. There are two things to note in this brief paragraph: First, the passage reveals very clearly how Jesus knew what was going to happen to him. And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter said to him, "Even though they all fall away, I will not." And Jesus said to him, "Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." But he said vehemently, "If I must die with you, I will not deny you." And they all said the same. Mark indicates this by the words with which he describes the close of the supper and the progress of the Lord and his disciples on their way to Gethsemane, in Verse 26:Īnd when they had song a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. I am sure that fulfilling this psalm was much in our Lord's thoughts as he gathered with his disciples in the upper room. I know thousands of people who have been helped and strengthened by those opening words, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." The thought of the Lord as shepherd of his people - watching over his flock, guarding them, protecting them, leading them into green pastures, making them to lie down beside the still water - has comforted many of us, I know. ![]() I am sure that the twenty-third Psalm, the Shepherd's Psalm, is the best-loved psalm of all. We return to our studies in Mark, stepping again into the infinite mystery that always gathers around the events in the closing days of our Lord's earthly life, the scenes that lead to the cross. ![]()
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