We Have All Fallen Away – Christ Seeks You (Matthew 26:30-35)
length: 76:28 - taught on Feb, 15 2026
Class Outline:
Sunday February 15, 2026
Background:
The Lord’s last night echoes with the same words that rang out when the week started: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Sometime in the morning, all of the celebrators of the Passover will come to know that Jesus of Nazareth was arrested and condemned to execution, even crucifixion.
Only 1 man understands.
After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
31 Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, 'I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.' 32 "But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee." 33 But Peter said to Him, "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away." 34 Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." 35 Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You." All the disciples said the same thing too.
Backdrop: singing triumphally.
They sang a hymn: likely the second part of the Hallel (Psa 115-118).
Listen to the triumph just before the fall:
O Israel, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
The Lord is for me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?
7 The Lord is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
All nations surrounded me;
In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off.
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off.
12 They surrounded me like bees;
They were extinguished as a fire of thorns;
In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off.
Have you ever sung about strength and faith and then soon after cowered or fled like a scared cat.
Yet the promises remain and the Lord continues to stand behind them [that is the key to becoming faithful and strong].
All stumble over the Lord, [we’re born fallen in Adam, and “all like sheep have gone astray,”] but some people never respond to His call, and some do.
Theology of the passage:
The uniqueness of Christ, the ignorance of mankind, sin, the gospel, and the faithfulness of Christ to do His Father’s will no matter what.
The hymn they sang can best be understood if we sing it (read) from Jesus’ perspective on that night.
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone.
23 This is the Lord's doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O Lord, do save, we beseech You;
O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity!
26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord;
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God, and He has given us light;
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I give thanks to You;
You are my God, I extol You.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
They had sung “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” on Palm Sunday. But, written before, and which the Lord knew before, “The stone which the builders rejected.” And they all rejected Him. We all did.
There was never a man as lonely as Him. At least, at that time, though all would fall away, at least He had the Father, but in a few hours, He’ll lose Him too for a time.
No one has wanted to associate with Him, not even His closest friends.
“Fall away” - skandalizo: to cause to be brought to a downfall, cause to sin. (it can also mean to shock or give offense)
The verb is future passive - you will be caused to scatter from Me. Why? What is going to cause it? The Lord Himself - His arrest, trial, and death are going to so brutalize the sensibilities of the disciples that they will flee.
The Lord tells them that like all others, because of Him, they will be caused to fall away. To clarify what He means, He quotes ZEC 13:7 - “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered.”
Then all the disciples left Him and fled.
“This night” in the Greek is emphatic. Of all nights, the night when He needed His friends the most.
He has offended everyone.
All fall away because of His unexpectedness. Everyone has been confronted with Him.
The truth of Him is unexpected by every unbeliever. Will they believe?
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
John the Baptist fell away (and returned):
Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to Him, "Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?" 4 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. 6 "And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me."
Nazareth (His hometown):
The wisdom and power of miracles was seen by those who watched little Jesus run around playing and being shown by His father how to do carpentry.
When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 55 "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 "And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" 57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household." 58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
The leading scholars of His beloved people, the Pharisees, did not like that Jesus did not follow their traditions, in this case, washing traditions outside the Law. He told them the truth:
"It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?" 13 But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 "Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
If you stick to the truth in all situations, you will eventually run square into the traditions of others.
At least He had His disciples. Now, due to His arrest, trial, and death, they too will fall away.
Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, 'I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.'
“Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.”
And soon, the Father will forsake Him as well.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, " Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? "that is," My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? "
How about you and me? When have we fallen away?
Have we fallen away from Christ as believers? I have. Many have.
But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.”
Maybe we didn’t say it out loud, but all of us have been guilty of it.
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
The falling away in every case in the Gospel of Matthew is the result of assuming something about Christ that wasn’t true.
What parts of Him have you struggled to accept?
Think of it this way. Despite the fact that they will all fall away. Despite the noise from Peter who pumps up himself while he puts down his brothers to their faces … Jesus keeps on trudging up that hill with a lonely heart, and misunderstood by all.
No matter what you have done or will do, the Lord took your burden upon Himself. Follow Him up that hill.
In Him you will find the victory of all and every aspect of life. You will long to witness, to study, to pray, to honor Him in every part of your day and you will see life the way it was meant to be lived.
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