Matthew 26:31

Matthew 26:31. All ye. Not without a contrast to Judas who had gone.

Shall be offended; ‘made to stumble,' ‘fall away.'

In me, i.e., His betrayal and sufferings, this night, would be made by them an occasion of stumbling, a snare; they would forsake and deny Him.

For it is written (Zechariah 13:7). Our Lord, knowing what would come, knew also that it was designed to fulfil this prophecy.

I will smite the Shepherd, etc. In the prophecy: ‘Smite,' a command. This change suggests that the coming sufferings were not only at the hands of men, but in some proper sense inflicted by God Himself; God smote Him instead of His people (comp. Isaiah 53:4-10). ‘The Shepherd ‘is Christ, and in the original prophecy meant the Messiah (comp. Zechariah 11:7-14; Zechariah 12:10).

And the sheep of the flock; the Apostles, but with a wider reference also to the Jewish people.

Scattered abroad. This occurred both in the case of the disciples, and of the Jews, after they had rejected the smitten Shepherd.