30 And when they had sung 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 the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 33 Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.
The question that we must ask ourselves here is: How was it that Jesus could predict so confidently that His disciples would all be offended in Him and forsake Him before the night was out? And the answer must be, quite simply, that they knew Him only 'after the flesh', and it is only 'in the Spirit' that faithfulness is possible. An important contrast therefore is suggested in these verses between 'flesh' and 'spirit'. To know Christ 'after the flesh' (cf 2 Corinthians 5:16) is, from the Christian standpoint, virtually not to know Him at all; and Peter's words, when he did deny Jesus, 'I do not know the man' (72) are truer then he knew or realised, for he did not know Him in the way that alone can keep men from falling and denying Him. The disciples knew Him merely on the natural level, and had no spiritual knowledge of Him, as their uniform reaction against His teaching about taking up the cross showed only too clearly. They had not understood the cross and had been unwilling to bear it. And why? Because the cross puts the old man in us to death, and this is what the natural man rebels against so much. It is only living henceforth unto Him (2 Corinthians 5:15), being made new creatures in Christ, that enables us to know Him 'in the Spirit', and therefore to stand firm in time of testing and crisis. Where this is lacking, even the greatest confidence in his own powers will not suffice to carry us through - as Peter proved to his cost.