“However,
after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.”
Mark 14:28
Mark 14 [23.] He took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them. They all drank of it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many. Most certainly I tell you, I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it anew in God’s Kingdom.” When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Mark 14 [27.] Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ However, after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.”
Mark 14 [29.] But Peter said to him, “Although all will be offended, yet I will not.”
Meaning:
On the way to the Mount of Olives Jesus gave his disciples a hard warning: “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered’” (Mark 14:27). But he did not stop there. In the very next breath he gave them this promise. The scattering would not be the end of the story; after his resurrection he would gather his flock again.
- “However”
This single word turns the warning into hope. The prophecy Jesus quoted from Zechariah itself goes on beyond the scattering. God says that a remnant will be refined like silver and gold, and “They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, ‘It is my people;’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God’” (Zechariah 13:7-9). The disciples would fail, but their failure would not cancel God’s purpose for them.
- “After I am raised up”
Again and again Jesus had told his disciples that he would be killed and rise again (Mark 8:31; Mark 9:31; Mark 10:34). Each time they failed to grasp it: “But they didn’t understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him” (Mark 9:32). Here Jesus speaks of his resurrection as calmly and certainly as of any other appointment. The words “I am raised up” point to the act of God the Father, who would raise his Son from the dead.
- “I will go before you”
An eastern shepherd did not drive his sheep from behind; he walked ahead of them, and they followed his voice. Jesus described himself in just this way: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). The Shepherd would be struck, but he would rise and lead the scattered flock again. The letter to the Hebrews calls him “the great shepherd of the sheep” whom God brought again from the dead (Hebrews 13:20).
- “Into Galilee”
Galilee was where it had all begun. Jesus had come into Galilee preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom (Mark 1:14-15), and beside the Sea of Galilee he had called the first disciples to follow him (Mark 1:16-17). After their failure they would meet him again in the place of their first calling, and begin again.
On the resurrection morning the young man at the tomb repeated this promise to the women: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you’” (Mark 16:6-7). The special mention of Peter, who would deny Jesus three times, shows the grace in this promise. In Galilee the risen Jesus met the eleven on a mountain and sent them to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).
The Significance of Mark 14:28
- Failure is not the end
Jesus knew his disciples would desert him, yet he already planned to meet them again. For those who turn back to him, failure is not final.
- The risen Shepherd leads
Believers do not walk into the future alone. The risen Christ goes ahead of his people, and they follow where he leads.
- His promises hold
Everything Jesus said that night came true: the scattering, the denial, the resurrection and the meeting in Galilee. His word can be trusted in every circumstance.
Cross-References:
Zechariah 13:7: "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones." The prophecy behind Jesus’ warning.
Mark 16:6-7: "He has risen. He is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him! But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.’" The promise repeated at the empty tomb.
John 10:11: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." The Shepherd who gives his life.
Hebrews 13:20: "Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus," The Shepherd raised from the dead.
Conclusion: Right after warning that the disciples would be scattered when the Shepherd was struck, Jesus promised that after he was raised up he would go before them into Galilee. The promise turned the prophecy of scattering into a promise of regathering. The risen Shepherd would lead his failed and frightened followers back to the place of their first calling, restore them and send them out into the world.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible