Matthew 26:33-35 Peter answered and said to him, Though all men shall be offended because of you, yet will I never be offended.… It is a common remark that in the absence of danger all men are heroes. Self-distrust does not enter into our calculations. Presuming upon the strength and permanence of present emotion, we hurl defiance at danger, and challenge circumstances to shake our magnanimity. Peter was not alone in this boast, but his conduct was marked by a more signal exhibition, both of self-confidence and of frailty, than that of his fellow-disciples. Fully, however, to estimate his fall — I. Look at some of THE CONCOMITANT CIRCUMSTANCES by which his offence was aggravated. 1. He was one of the three disciples whom Jesus honoured with a peculiar intimacy. 2. He appears to have had an earlier and a stronger conviction of our Saviour's Messiahship than his brother disciples (Matthew 16:13-17). 3. The particular crisis at which his offence was committed. Almost immediately after another of the twelve had betrayed Him, and when, humanly speaking, his Master stood most in need of his support. II. These facts serve to illustrate the extent of his self-deception, and to impress more forcibly this most important lesson, that No REASONABLE DEPENDENCE IS TO BE PLACED ON OUR MERE UNTRIED FEELINGS AND RESOLUTIONS; BUT THAT THE ONLY SATISFACTORY EVIDENCE WE CAN POSSESS OF THE GENUINENESS AND STABILITY OF OUR RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES, IS THAT WHICH OUR CONDUCT AFFORDS. When Peter protested his fidelity, his constancy had not been put to the test. His character rendered him in an especial degree liable to this species of self-deception, still, his case may be selected as a striking illustration of the fallaciousness of mere untried feelings and resolutions, as a satisfactory evidence of religious character, and of the folly and danger of trusting to them as any security for future conduct. Few things are more common. Let us not mistake passion for principle (John 14:21; 1 John 5:3). (J. H. Smith.) Parallel Verses KJV: Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. |
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