Mark 14:27-28

‘And Jesus says to them, “You will all be caused to fail, for it is written, ‘I will smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered abroad.' However, after I am raised up I will go before you into Galilee.” '

Jesus' mind was now concentrated on what lay ahead. But He knew the weakness of His disciples, as He knows the weakness of all men, and He knew that they would fail and that when they had failed they would begin to wonder whether Jesus could ever have time for them again. So He assured them in two ways. Firstly in that their failure had been prophesied, and secondly in that He would see them again in Galilee after He had been raised up. After their scattering they had an appointment with Him in Galilee. When they failed, they would remember, and it would give them hope.

‘Be caused to fail.' In other words will lose courage and will fail to stand by Him. The quotation is from Zechariah 13:7 (compare John 16:32). The Shepherd was to be smitten, and the sheep would be scattered. But He assured them that He would not fail them.

‘I will go before you into Galilee.' At present with their unawareness of what was to happen, their confusion about His betrayal, and the foreboding that hung over them, return to Galilee was the one thing they longed for most. There they would be safe. They were in fact probably beginning to wonder whether they would ever see Galilee again. So Jesus assured them that not only would they see it but that, having been raised up (Mark 8:31; Mark 9:31; Mark 10:34), He would see them there. It was psychologically just what they needed at this time, an assurance for the near future in terms of their deepest longings.