The Problem of Self

Good morning and welcome to Dishman Baptist Church. Please take your Bibles and open them with me to Mark 14, Mark 14. It has been a good time away from the pulpit - a time of refreshment for me but it is so good to be back with you all and to be bringing God’s Word for you today. If you’re new or you’re visiting us online for the first time welcome - we are so blessed that you would take time to worship our magnificent Savior together with us.

Is there anything more American than the stories of self-made men? The rags to riches story? The person who came out of the slums to prominence or to become a leader of industry or politics. Dare I say it - the sixth round draft pick that wins seven Super Bowls? That would’ve been better if he’d been a seventh round pick. The skinny kid who was cut from his high school basketball team that went on to become one of the greatest players, if not the greatest, ever. Every movie we’ve ever watched that has a hero that overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to emerge victorious. Louis L’Amour, who I don’t think has been canceled by culture yet, made a living telling us the stories of the American frontier - many with a self-reliant, self-confident protagonist who effectively upheld justice and saw right done.

As popular as this concept is in the American psyche - the idea of self-reliance - it is an idea that is foreign to the Gospel. In fact it is completely non-existent in the Gospel. It is really kind of poetic the way that we’ve come to this text this week. Three weeks ago we looked at Communion and we recognized that Christ was not merely adding to the Passover celebration but instead He was superseding it and replacing it with something entirely new. Two weeks ago - we looked at the anguish of Christ as He prayed in the Garden and He faced the events that were certain to transpire. This morning we back track a bit to look at an event that happened in between dinner and the garden - and to see how it directly mirrors some of what is happening in the church today. Read with me Mark 14:27-31.

Mark 14:27–31 CSB

Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will fall away, because it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” Peter told him, “Even if everyone falls away, I will not.” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to him, “today, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he kept insisting, “If I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” And they all said the same thing.

Christ’s Prediction

It has been a tumultuous evening for Christ’s disciples. They have argued amongst themselves about who was the greatest. Jesus shocked the room to silence by the admission that one of their number would betray Him. Now here they are, after a five to six hour dinner, crossing the Kidron Valley with Jesus travelling from the upper room in Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives and specifically the Garden of Gethsemane. The dinner that evening would have started after sunset so it is probably some time between 11 and 12 at night. An odd time to be out and about. With all the people in Jerusalem and even with it being a festival period, it still wouldn’t have been a normal sight for a group of eleven men to be traversing the streets at this late hour. Nothing in Scripture tells us why Jesus has chosen to leave the upper room and head to the Mount of Olives. This is pure speculation but it could be that Jesus knows that Judas is en route to betray Him and still has things that need to be addressed before His arrest and so to forestall that event He left the upper room and went to the garden. The Apostle John does tell us that this was a regular behavior of Christ’s and that Judas knew it well. It could be that after coming to the upper room that Judas would have realized the only place in Jerusalem for Christ to be was the garden. Either way - He and His disciples leave the upper room and head to the garden and along the way Jesus reveals another bombshell that shakes His disciples.

He says that all of them would fall away. The word that Jesus uses here is interesting. It is the word skandalizo - from which we get our word scandal. It can mean to cause to sin, to give offense to, anger or shock. It can also be used, as is the case here, to cause to stumble or to fall away. This is the way that Jesus previously used this verb in Mark while delivering the parable of the soils. Of those that were represented by rocky soil He said this

Mark 4:16–17 CSB

And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy. But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.

Fall away is again the verb skandalizo. So the disciples, Christ’s most ardent disciples who had remained throughout the turbulent ministry of Christ and the mounting tension between Him and the religious leaders, would fall away as this most unexpected form of distress and persecution arrives. The passive sense of the verb makes it clear that this isn’t a willful, purposeful defection on the part of the disciples but rather that the external factors were so overwhelming to their senses and the story that they had expected as to cause them to run. Jesus warns the disciples to guard against the kind of sinfulness of which most of us are most guilty: sins of weakness and irresoluteness rather than sins of intention. We do not plan on sinning, but neither do we hold the fort when we ought.

The challenge here is to understand why exactly this happens. We see another collision of the idea of man’s responsibility with God’s sovereignty here. Christ says “All of you will fall away, because it is written”. The disciples are responsible for their own actions but Christ also alludes here to the idea that this event has been prophesied and that the disciples would simply fulfill their roles in an already predetermined cosmic drama cast into motion by God Himself. That is a far too fatalistic view but there is a measure of truth there. The greater context of the Zechariah passage tells of a cleansing that would take place through the striking of the Shepherd - that the religious institutions would be refined like silver and tested like gold to emerge pure and the people would call on God. Verse 9 of Zechariah 13 says I will say “They are my people, and they will say ‘The Lord is our God.’”

The other interesting thing about this quote is the change in language from “Sword awake against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate - this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Now here in Mark Christ is quoted as saying “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered” pointing again to the part that God is playing in all of this. That all the events that are transpiring are in accordance with His divine plan devised before the formation of the world.

There is a promise here that is easily missed as we focus in on the dire statement of Jesus - just as His disciples did. He makes a simple statement “but after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” The promise contained here is multi-faceted and it provides great hope for us today. He makes the definitive statement that after He has risen. The Shepherd would be struck, He would be killed but He will not stay dead. He will rise from the dead as He has promised and He will go ahead of the disciples to Galilee. This translation makes it easy to miss the gravity of what is being said here. The verb is proago and it is translated for us “I will go ahead of you”. The deeper meaning that it carries though is this - I will lead you as a shepherd leads His sheep. You see the scattered sheep will not remain scattered. Jesus rises from the dead and regathers His disciples on a hilltop in Galilee and charges them to continue gathering in the sheep.

This bears great promise for us today as we may be weary of the ways that our Shepherd has been struck. When we see false teachers gaining popularity - men like Steven Furtick and his abominable statement that God broke the law for love. Or the idea that is being trumpeted in some corners that Jesus used a racial slur in Mark 7 when he called the Syrophenician woman a dog and that He had to repent of that statement and does so by healing her daughter as she had asked. These are just a few examples of the way that our Savior, while not being struck down exactly as the Zechariah text details, is being maligned. But we know that He has promised us that He will return for us. He said that He was going away to prepare a place for us and that He will come again and take us to Himself so that we may be where He is also.

Its hard to hear that sometimes amidst all of the other noise. Maybe not so much that its hard to hear - its hard to remember. Much like the disciples on this night in the Kidron Valley we may have a hard time getting past the statement “All of you will fall away.” It was hard for them - in fact at least one of them zeros in on that and reveals the first problem of self in this passage, the problem of self-reliance.

Peter’s Response

The ever-present, ever-willing spokesman for the disciples, Peter speaks up to counter Jesus claims. “Even if everyone falls away, I will not.” I imagine Peter here as he makes this statement. A friend of mine on Facebook sent me a message the other day with a picture of a young man wearing a t-shirt and asked if it was me. I told her no because I don’t have a cool beard like he did nor do I have a full head of hair but in all other respects it was totally me. The man was wearing a t-shirt that read “Pastor because hardcore devil stomping ninja isn’t an official job title”.

I picture Peter standing here in the Kidron Valley wearing that exact t-shirt. It’s just so untrue. And it screams self-reliant. It screams that I’m better than other men and that even if everyone else falls away I’m a devil stomping ninja and I will remain. I screams the exact self delusion that Peter exhibits here. If the devil actually showed up and we could recognize him we would be reduced to tears and run screaming from the building. And, before any of you get the wrong idea, Kyle and I spoke about that shirt before hand and he and I see things eye to eye. What the shirt should read is Pastor because broken kneed, Word studying slave of Christ isn’t an official job title.

Notice what Peter says “Even if everyone else falls away, I will not.” This exudes an air that he doesn’t need anyone else. That he is self-reliant and that he will never fall away. Even if all these other lesser men fail and fall, I wont. I’m strong enough to go this on my own and I don’t need anyone or anything. I will stand contra mundum, opposing everything or standing against the world, and I won’t fail.

This is something that is deeply concerning in the church climate that we are in today. There are a lot of issues coming against the church and the temptation that we must all face is the desire to stand alone and the delusion that we can stand in our own strength. We must be completely submitted to Christ. We should find our strength in Him. Dr. Steven Lawson recently tweeted this, and I liked it and told him I was going to use it today,

The perseverance of the saints is, in reality, the perseverance of the Savior in the saints.

What Peter is saying here is that he is strong enough within his own power to stand firm for Christ and yet what he misses is that only when we are deeply connected to the vine do we have any strength to stand. His attitude here is little better than the attitude of the Pharisee in the parable that Jesus tells with the Pharisee and the tax collector. Peter is saying I am not like these other men, weak, fops and milk sops as Charles Spurgeon would have put it. I’m wild at heart, I’m strong and capable. I’m better than they are and I’m ready to stand on my own. We mustn’t ever think that we know enough or have experienced enough or have done enough to think that we are good and that we can now handle this on our own. Because it is when we adopt that attitude that we are ripe for failure.

We also need to be careful of the other side of this coin - thinking we are beyond falling. Peter exhibits a sense of superiority toward the other disciples and a sense of self-assuredness with respect to himself. I read a statement recently regarding Ravi Zacharias that read this way “Here a dissertation on how to avoid repeating Ravi’s actions: actually don’t abuse people.” While that statement may make sense on the surface, there is a fundamental ignorance to the darkness that exists in every heart outside of Christ. Contrast that to the statement made by puritan John Bradford “There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford.” Now if we say something like that as a pious way of saying “thank God I’m not as bad as that guy” then we miss the point of the statement. It is the humble admission not to be too quick to judge someone because, except for the grace of God, we would be like him or worse.

Peter is about to get a direct revelation as to exactly how weak he truly is.

Christ’s Clarification

Christ must have paused for a moment and looked directly at Peter. Truly I tell you, Jesus said to him, “today, this very night, before the rooster crows twice you will deny Me three times.” Now the timing of this statement is shocking. Remember that it is near or just after midnight. The crowing of the rooster to welcome the new day would not have been that many hours away. And Jesus says “Peter, you’re not only going to fall away and run but you’re going to actually deny having any association with me in just a few minutes.” Jesus starts His statement with truly meaning “I tell you the truth”. Much like the Old Testament declaration “thus says the Lord” this is something that is going to happen.

Today, this very night, also alludes to the time being short. Right now you are going to deny Me before men. The shocking thing about the Bible is that it never shies away from painting man in the worst light. There is no way that someone seeking to invent or conjure up a religion would build it on stories like those of David and Peter and Paul and certainly not Jesus. For David, Peter and Paul there were too many warts, too many failures, too much weakness demonstrated. Imagine trying to tell this story to a new convert and highlighting that one of our founding apostles was a complete coward - not very inspiring. And then Jesus, the cornerstone of the whole belief system, dying on a cross as a common criminal. No this is certainly not how we would write this story - and yet this is the story that we have. Peter will fail, it is certain. But what is also certain is the restoration that will take place when the Shepherd regathers His sheep. And yet Peter still misses it.

Peter Doubles Down

Peter says “If I have to die with You, I will never deny You.” He doubles down - not only will he not fall away but he will even be willing to go to death for Christ. Now all the disciples chime in - they will be willing to die with Christ the same way. Gone is the humble attitude that was exhibited earlier in the evening - when Christ tells them that one of them will betray Him they are in despair each one asking Him “Is it me? Am I the one who will betray you?” Now they are all boisterous and boastful of their willingness to die with Him.

Yet as they climb the path toward the garden we see an immediate example of their weakness as Christ catches them sleeping instead of praying three times. But again we must not be too hard on them - how often are we guilty of the same thing. How often, in our daily lives, do we have the opportunity to stand firm for Him and His Word and we compromise in the name of tolerance and peace? How often do we practically deny any knowledge of Him as we are unwilling to speak about Him or we live our lives in such a way as we can be identified with Him by name only? And oh the warning we should take from the disciples boastful self-confident attitudes.

This is the second danger of self. Self-confidence. The disciples claim that they would be willing to die with Christ. Not somewhere down the road or a few years from now - which all of them did - but right this moment. Well their moment would arrive sooner than they expected. I don’t think the disciples were making these statements completely frivolously - they probably genuinely meant what they were saying even if the source of strength they would draw on was misplaced. Instead of relying on Christ they were making these statements out of their expectation that they were strong enough within themselves to stand. Yet, when the moment came sooner than they expected, their claims proved as fleeting as their feet as they ran. Look with me quickly at Mark 14:43-52 as we see the culmination of this evening.

The Culmination of the Evening

Mark 14:43–52 CSB

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. With him was a mob, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. His betrayer had given them a signal. “The one I kiss,” he said, “he’s the one; arrest him and take him away under guard.” So when he came, immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. They took hold of him and arrested him. One of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear. Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal, to capture me? Every day I was among you, teaching in the temple, and you didn’t arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” Then they all deserted him and ran away. Now a certain young man, wearing nothing but a linen cloth, was following him. They caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth behind and ran away naked.

Just as predicted the Shepherd is struck and the sheep scatter. Yes - Peter takes a sword and strikes the high priest’s servant but even this is a demonstration of his self-reliance rather than submission to Christ. In striking out he was trying to make his truth, his version of the story come true rather than submitting to Christ’s foreordained plan. The Shepherd had to be struck, the sheep had to be scattered in order for salvation to be purchased. But even in this - there is still the promise that was given earlier that night that we should not lose sight of. In the current days in which we live it is a promise that we must hold on to dearly.