Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 14:31
But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.
31. If I should ] Literally, If it be necessary for me to die with Thee; as Wyclif renders it, “ if it bihoue me to dye to gidere with thee.” After this the Lord engaged in earnest conversation with His Apostles, not as at the ordinary Passover on the great events of the Exodus, but on His own approaching departure to the Father and the coming of the Comforter (Joh 14:1-31); of Himself as the true Vine and His disciples as the branches (Joh 15:1-6); of the trials which the Apostles must expect and the assured aid of the Comforter (John 16); and at the close lifting up His eyes to heaven solemnly committed them to the care of the Eternal Father, and dedicated to Him His completed work (John 17). Then the concluding part of the Hallel (Psalms 115-118) was sung, i. e. chanted, and the little company went forth into the darkness towards the Mount of Olives. A perusal of these Psalms will reveal their appropriateness to this solemn occasion.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mar 14:31
I will not deny Thee in any wise.
Peters denial of Christ
I. We may learn from this transaction not to be too forward in our professions, or too confident in our own strength, lest confidence should at last increase the guilt and shame of failure; and in the event of nonperformance, our professions be turned to our reproach. The chief of the apostles mistook the firmness of his own spirit. In the day of peace it is easy to form good resolutions, and to be confident that we shall perform them. To resolve in private and act in public are very different things, requiring very different degrees of firmness, both in exerting the powers of the understanding and in regulating the affections of the heart. Rash resolutions are foolish, and rash vows cannot be innocent. Yet our weakness is itself the decisive proof that vows and resolutions ought to be made. But let them be made as reason and duty require-deliberately not ostentatiously; not so much to be heard as to be kept; not so much to man as to God.
II. To hope the best, and to depend the most upon those whose tempers are not so warm and forward, but mild, and cool, and firm. In St. John we find no forward professions, no hasty declarations of invincible spirit. He was firm and faithful, but meek and unoffending. His zeal united gentleness. Zeal should be with moderation. The passions must not rule the conduct. The feelings of a good man are ruled by his religion. Every thought should be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Without such guidance feeling is bold, forward, and capricious, liable to error, and will involve us in sin; but conviction and principle are steady and permanent; truth and right are forever the same.
III. That if we be surprised into any failure in our duty we may be forgiven upon repentance and reformation. But this great privilege must not be allowed to relax our care, or encourage our presumption. St. Peter delayed his repentance only till he knew his fault. Hand-in-hand with conviction came contrition. (W. Barrow, LL. D.)
Peter and the rest
The text shows St. Peter exercising the supreme influence.
I. Here is Peters undoubted supremacy. History circles around great names. Men are not all original. The apostles could not do without Peter.
II. This supremacy was intellectual, moral, spiritual; not economical, legal, or merely official. His supremacy rose out of qualification. There are no spiritual leaderships which can be irrespective of character. A true man must always influence others powerfully.
III. The value of such characters as that of Peter in the Church. Each age needs men who can call onward and upward because they are beyond and above.
IV. Here is noble purpose and noble feeling coming short in action. The sequel is, they all forsook Him and fled. Not even the grandest human inspirations have staying virtues in them. These must be sought from the Holy Spirit. (The Preachers Monthly.)
Presumption
I stand on a mountain in Colorado six thousand feet high. There is a man standing beneath me who says: I see a peculiar shelving to this rock, and he bends towards it. I say: Stop, you will fall. He says: No danger; I have a steady head and foot, and see a peculiar piece of moss. I say: Stand back; but he says: I am not afraid; and he bends farther and farther, and after a while his head whirls and his feet slip-and the eagles know not that it is the macerated flesh of a man they are picking at, but it is. So I have seen men come to the very verge of New York life, and they look away down in it. They say: Dont be cowardly. Let us go down. They look farther and farther. I warn them to stand back; but Satan comes behind them, and while they are swinging over the verge, pushes them off. People say they were naturally bad. They were not! They were only engaged in exploration. (Dr. Talmage.)
Fatal presumption
The present Eddystone Lighthouse stands very firmly, but that was not the character of the first structure that stood on that dangerous point. There was an eccentric man by the name of Henry Winstanly, who built a very fantastic lighthouse at that point in 1696, and when it was nearly done he felt so confident that it was strong, that he expressed the wish that he might be in it in the roughest hurricane that ever blew in the face of heaven. And he got his wish. One November night, in 1703, he and his workmen were in that light house when there came down the most raging tempest that has ever been known in that region. On the following morning the people came down to see about the lighthouse. Not a vestige of the wall, not a vestige of the men. Only two twisted iron bolts, showing where the lighthouse had stood. So there are men building up their fantastic hopes, and plans, and enterprises, and expectations, thinking they will stand forever, saying: We dont want any of the defences of the gospel. We can stand for ourselves. We are not afraid. We take all the risks and we defy everything; and suddenly the Lord blows upon them and they are gone. Only two things left-a grave and a lost soul. (Dr. Talmage.)
Accumulated sin
Peter, instead of being humbled and made self-distrustful by our Lords warning, as he ought to have been, only heaps up more sin against himself by persisting in contradicting the Lord. Let us take note from this that the child of God, through strength of his corruption, may fall often into the same sin, notwithstanding good means against it.
1. It is a very hard thing to lead people out of themselves. Almost nothing but experience of former falls brings them to see their folly.
2. Till their mind is changed their action will be the same.
3. Weakness of grace causes even the best to fall over and over again into the same sins.
4. The same reason remains still which may move the Lord to leave His children to themselves; to try, excite, humble them, work more serious sorrow, make them more watchful, etc. (Dr. Thomas Taylor.)
Repetition strengthens
Every repetition of sin makes sin the stronger; for as the body, the more it is nourished and fed, the stronger it grows, so with sin in the soul; every new act is an addition of strength till it comes to a habit. Pluck up a twig, then, before it grows up into a plant. Dash out the brains of every sin in infancy. (Dr. Thomas Taylor.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
But he spake the more vehemently,…. With a louder voice; with more spirit and eagerness; in a more peremptory and self-confident way.
If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. The Syriac version adds, “O my Lord”, my dear Lord, I will never deny thee upon any consideration whatever; and the Persic version, O Lord:
likewise also said they all; as he said, so said “all the disciples”, as the Syriac version reads it; [See comments on Mt 26:35].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Exceeding vehemently (). This strong compounded adverb only in Mark and probably preserves Peter’s own statement of the remark. About the boast of Peter see on Mt 26:35.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
I will not deny [ ] . The double negative with the future forms the strongest possible assertion.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But he spake the more vehemently,” (no de ekperissos elalei) “Then he said more emotionally,’ in protest, disagreeing, denying that he would do such a thing at all, under any circumstance; He kept repeating it; See also Joh 13:36-38. Peter had more confidence in himself than he had in Jesus.
2) “If I should die with thee,” (ean dee me suna pothanein soi) “If I must even die with you,” die in colleague, or close affinity, because of my close attachment to and with you, Luk 22:33.
3) “I will not deny thee in any wise.” (ou me se aparnesomai) “I will by no means (under no circumstance) deny you,” at all! Mat 26:35; Luk 22:31-34 recounts our Lord’s direct address to Peter regarding Satan’s desire to have him and sift him; Jesus pledged His prayer for Peter and gave him a charge, Luk 22:32.
4) “Likewise also said they all.” (hosautos [de] kai pantes eletes elegon) “Then in similar manner or fashion on a lower pitch-claim, not repeating it as Peter did, all the disciples also responded,” or affirmed to Jesus their undying loyalty and fidelity of attachment to Him and that they would stand up for and with Him, but “they all forsook Him and fled,” as He had told them they would, Mar 14:27, fulfilled Mar 14:50; Mat 26:35.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(31) He spake the more vehemently.The Greek tense implies frequent and continuous speaking.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘But he spoke exceedingly vehemently, “If I must die with you I will not deny you.” And in a similar manner they all said the same thing.’
There was nothing wrong with their hearts, nor with their intentions. But they had never been in a situation like they were soon to be in. Able and willing to bear hardships they had never had to face the tenseness of uncertainty, the fear of the unknown and the threat of a cruel death when they were also very weary. And they had all heard stories of what happened to those arrested by the Romans. So they confidently and vehemently stated the opposite of what would be true, Peter leading the protests.
From this we can learn that when men fail Jesus they can be assured that there is always a way back, the way of repentance, for He knows our weakness and His love reaches out to us even through our failure.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
DISCOURSE: 1458
SELF-CONFIDENCE CONDEMNED
Mar 14:31. He spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.
THE influence of example is exceeding powerful, whether it lead to good or evil. This is well known in armies; where courage or timidity beget a kindred feeling speedily, and to a great extent. In moral habits, also, the conduct of one will produce a considerable effect on others. When our blessed Lord apprised his Disciples that one of them would betray him, the diffidence of one diffused itself through all; yea, extended even to the traitor himself, who, if from no better feeling than shame, joined, at last, in that self-diffident inquiry, Lord, is it I? [Note: Mat 26:21-22; Mat 26:25.] On the other hand, the dissimulation of Peter drew aside the whole Galatian Church, not excepting even Barnabas himself [Note: Gal 2:13.]. In like manner, unhappy Peter, by his characteristic self-confidence, betrayed all the other Apostles into the commission of the heinous transgression of protesting an unchangeable fidelity to their Lord, without contemplating the weakness of their own purposes, and the treachery of their own hearts. Our Lord had told them, on the evening before his crucifixion, that they would all be offended because of him that night. Peter, confident in the supposed firmness of his own resolutions, replied, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. And, on being more particularly warned that he himself would, that very night, no less than thrice deny his Lord, he, so far from relaxing his confidence, only spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. And such was the unhappy effect of his confidence, that every one of the Apostles caught, as it were, the contagion, and expressed themselves in the same vehement language as he: Likewise, also, thus said they all. Doubtless they all meant well: the resolution itself was good: but it was evil, as being made in dependence on their own strength.
To mark this distinction the more fully, I will shew,
I.
The wisdom of the resolution, as conceived in their own minds
It was a resolution worthy of the Apostles, and worthy to be adopted by every one of us.
1.
Our blessed Saviour deserves it at our hands
[What has He not done for us? And what has he not suffered for us? And should we be afraid to confess him? Should any consideration under heaven induce us to deny him? ]
2.
He also requires it at our hands
[At the very commencement of his ministry he declared, that those only should be acknowledged as his disciples who denied themselves, and took up their cross daily, and followed him; nay more; that they only who were willing to lose their life for his sake, should find it unto life eternal [Note: Mat 10:38-39.]. And what can be more reasonable than this? If He, the Lord of heaven and earth, encountered death for us, shall we think it too much to lay down our lives for him? Methinks, if we offer ourselves a sacrifice for him, it is no other than a reasonable service, which is at once our plainest duty, and our highest privilege ]
But the conduct of them all too certainly evinced,
II.
The folly of the resolution, as announced in their own strength
Not one of them was able to fulfil his word
[That very night they all forsook their Lord, and fled: and Peter, who arrogated to himself a greater measure of fidelity than all the others, was the very first to deny his Lord, and denied him with more blasphemous impiety than all the others together.]
And who amongst us would be more firm than they?
[We have not in ourselves a sufficiency even to think a good thought [Note: 2Co 3:5.]: how much less, then, can we think to maintain our fidelity towards our Lord, amidst all the terrors of a most cruel death? Through Christ strengthening us, we may undertake any thing [Note: Php 4:13.]: but of ourselves we can do nothing [Note: Joh 15:5.]. In truth, the more self-confident we are, the more we provoke the Lord to jealousy, and challenge him to leave us to ourselves [Note: Jer 17:5-8.]. Then only can we hope to stand, when we are strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might [Note: Eph 6:10.].]
Learn then, Brethren,
1.
What your duty is
[Doubtless, this is great and arduous: nor must you, for a moment, wish to lower it. You must see that nothing under heaven should stand in competition with Christ [Note: Php 3:8.]. The state of every mans mind should accord with that of the holy Apostle, when he said, I am willing, not only to be bound, but to die for the Lords sake: and if we are brought to the trial, no sufferings should move us; nor should we account our lives dear unto us, if only we may finish our course with joy, and finish the work which our blessed Lord has assigned us [Note: Act 20:24; Act 21:13.].]
2.
Where alone our strength lies for the performance of it
[I know, O Lord, says the prophet, that the way of man is not in himself; and that it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps [Note: Jer 10:23.]. And we are told by the wisest of men, that he who trusts in his own heart is a fool [Note: Pro 28:26.]. Be convinced of this; and know, that the more ye resemble a little child in your spirit, the more secure ye are. When ye are weak, then is it that ye are really strong; for then shall Gods strength be perfected in your weakness [Note: 2Co 12:9-10.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
26 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.
28 But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.
29 But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.
30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.
31 But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.
Ver. 31. I will not deny thee ] The Syriac addeth Mari, that is, Domine mi, my God. And this he affirmed, magis ex abundanti. So did Pendleton the apostate, when he said to Sanders the martyr, with greatest vehemence, I will see the uttermost drop of this grease of mine molten away, and the last gobbet of this flesh consumed to ashes, before I will forsake God and his truth. (Acts and Mon.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
31. ] , went on repeating superabundantly: the giving Peter’s continued and excessive iteration, the following expressing merely the one, or, at all events, less frequent saying of the same by the rest. The reading has apparently been a correction, signifying to speak and not to say , and its peculiar fitness here being missed.
with fut. indic. makes the certainty of the assertion doubly sure. The E. V. attempts to represent this by adding “ in any wise .” We sometimes give the same effect by substituting the objective future for the subjective, “I never shall deny thee.”
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 14:31 . , abundantly in matter and manner, with vehemence and iteration; a . , kept saying: that he would not deny his Master even if he had to die for it. , a stronger word than Mt.’s = in the same way, and probably in the same words. But the words of the others were simply a faint echo of Peter’s vehement and copious talk. They feebly said once ( = ) what he said strongly again and again ( ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
spake = kept saying.
vehemently = of (Greek. ek. App-104.) excess.
If I should die, &c. = lf it were needful for me to die, &c. The condition being uncertain, and the result remaining to be seen. App-118. b
not . . . in any wise. Gr, ou me. App-105.
also said = said they all also: i.e. all as well as Peter.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
31.] , went on repeating superabundantly: the giving Peters continued and excessive iteration, the following expressing merely the one, or, at all events, less frequent saying of the same by the rest. The reading has apparently been a correction, signifying to speak and not to say, and its peculiar fitness here being missed.
with fut. indic. makes the certainty of the assertion doubly sure. The E. V. attempts to represent this by adding in any wise. We sometimes give the same effect by substituting the objective future for the subjective, I never shall deny thee.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 14:31. , the rather, the more exceedingly). Comp. ch. Mar 7:36, note. Peter, in this passage, rather () spake of his own stedfastness, than trusted [believed] in the words of Jesus.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
he spake: 2Ki 8:13, Job 40:4, Job 40:5, Psa 30:6, Pro 16:18, Pro 18:24, Pro 29:23, Jer 10:23, Jer 17:9
Likewise: Exo 19:8, Deu 5:27-29
Reciprocal: 1Ki 11:22 – let me go Psa 118:5 – called Mat 14:28 – bid Mat 26:34 – That Mar 10:39 – We Luk 22:33 – I am
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
This pointed prediction only caused Peter to be more positive in his assurance of faithfulness, even to the point of dying with Christ. The emphatic attitude of Peter seemed to stir up the others so that they agreed to the same promise of loyalty.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 14:31. He spake exceeding vehemently. This might be paraphrased: he went on repeating superabundantly The correct reading emphasizes the intensity of the denial.
And in like manner also, etc. These protestations occupied some time, probably continuing until they entered Gethsemane.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
14:31 But he spake the {g} more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.
(g) The doubling of words here sets out more plainly Peter’s vehement affirmation.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus’ reply should have caused Peter to realize his weakness and seek help. Instead he dug in his heels and virtually told Jesus that he would die to prove Him wrong. He kept affirming excessively (Gr. ekperissos, used only here in the New Testament) that he would definitely not deny Jesus. Peter did not know how weak he was, a problem most disciples of Jesus share with him. He would have to learn the hard way, through failure. Peter led the other disciples in denying that they would deny Jesus. [Note: W. N. Clarke, "Commentary on the Gospel of Mark," in An American Commentary, p. 214.] Later he denied Jesus with the same vehemence with which he professed that he would not.
This pericope is a strong warning for all disciples. When facing persecution for one’s allegiance to Jesus, one should not trust in the strength of his or her commitment. He or she should trust in God who can supply the grace needed to remain faithful (cf. Mar 9:14-29).