The Shepherd about to be smitten and the sheep scattered.
After the institution of the Lord’s Supper, when they had sung a hymn, Jesus and His disciples went out into the Mount of Olives. And here He sought further to prepare His disciples for the terrible tragedy that was about to be enacted. And in doing so He referred them to the words spoken by Zechariah, the prophet, and said to 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.”
In Zechariah 13, we learn that Jesus; the Messiah, was to be wounded in the house of His friends; that is among His own people, the Jews, and also that He was to be smitten by the sword of Jehovah. He would be rejected by His own people, and then smitten for their sakes. And this would be a terrible moment for the poor sheep; for if the Shepherd was smitten what was to become of the sheep?
But the Lord Jesus warns them beforehand, and so He tells them they would all be offended because of Him that night; that is, they would all be stumbled. They were still expecting that He was about to take the throne of Israel, and reign. But instead of taking the throne, He was to be smitten. He would be nailed to the cross, and all their expectations would be disappointed; they would be stumbled, and then scattered; all would forsake Him on the dreadful night of His betrayal; and when nailed to the cross, not one would be able to stand with Him; like sheep frightened by the wolf, they would be scattered.
As we shall see further on, this is exactly what took place. The disciples were terror stricken, when Jesus was taken a prisoner. And instead of Israel being gathered, the sheep of the flock were scattered abroad. This was the teaching of the Scriptures, and it was about to have its fulfilment in connection with the death of Jesus. He was about to identify Himself with His guilty people under the governmental wrath of Jehovah, so that when His own are overwhelmed with sorrow in the terrible day of trial which awaits them He can sympathize with them and deliver them out of all their sorrows. This will be in the clay of Jacob’s trouble, in the great tribulation that is to come upon the Jews because of their having rejected and slain their King.
Oh! what tender care for His poor sheep, that Jesus should thus tell them beforehand. They probably did not understand Him at all clearly; but they may have taken in enough so that when the terrible hour came they would not altogether be surprised. And while their hopes and expectations about the immediate establishment of the kingdom were blasted, they would not altogether be driven to despair. It was only the fulfilment of Scripture, and as the Scriptures also foretold great blessing to follow, they might expect that in some way, though they could not tell how, the blessing would come. We shall see that after His death and resurrection, He gathered together the poor scattered sheep, His heartbroken disciples, as He will also gather the remnant of Israel who fear Jehovah’s name, in a future day. But in the mean time they were to be scattered while He was smitten by the sword of Jehovah.
ML 01/21/1906