What does Matthew 26:31 Mean?

Verse Meaning

"Then" (Gr. tote) here expresses a logical rather than a temporal connection with what precedes. Jesus emphasized that the disciples would desert Him very soon, that very night. They would find Him to be a source of stumbling (Gr. skandalon, cf. Matthew 11:6). Jesus" arrest would trip them up, and they would temporarily stop following Him faithfully. They still did not understand that the Messiah must die. By quoting Zechariah 13:7 freely Jesus was telling them again that He would die and that their scattering from Him was something within God"s sovereign plan. This did not excuse their failure, but it prepared them for it and helped them recover after it. [source][source]

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In Zechariah 13:1-6 the prophet spoke of a day when, because of prevailing apostasy, the Shepherd would be cut down and His followers would scatter. The sheep in the prophecy are the Jews, many of whom would depart from the Shepherd, but a third of whom would remain. The disciples constituted the core of this remnant that Zechariah predicted God would bless in the future ( Zechariah 13:7-9). [source][source]

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Context Summary

The Passover looked back to the dread hour of the Exodus; the Supper links Calvary with the Second Advent. In partaking of it we should not confine ourselves to either retrospect or anticipation, but should endeavor to feed our souls with the very spirit and heart of our dear Lord, so as to absorb His divine strength, sweetness and love. We need to feed on His flesh and drink of His blood after a mystical fashion, so that He may become the Life of our life. The word new is not the same as in Matthew 9:17, but contrasts, with the present order of things, something entirely different. The former things will have passed away-such was our Lord's anticipation!

The new covenant is further explained in Hebrews 8:1-13. It is good to recite its provisions when we sit at the Table. It is as though God and the believer drink of the cup in pledge of that blessed understanding between them. See how our Shepherd eagerly warns one of the sheep that was dear to Him and for which He had pleaded often, Luke 22:31. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 26

¹  Jesus foretells his own death
³  The rulers conspire against him
⁶  The woman anoints his feet
¹⁴  Judas bargains to betray him
¹⁷  Jesus eats the Passover;
²⁶  institutes his holy supper;
³⁰  foretells the desertion of his disciples, and Peter's denial;
³⁶  prays in the garden;
⁴⁷  and being betrayed by a kiss,
⁵⁷  is carried to Caiaphas,
⁶⁹  and denied by Peter