Peter's Denial Foretold
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away; for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter said to him, "Even though they all fall away, I will not." And Jesus said to him, "Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." But he said vehemently, "If I must die with you, I will not deny you." And they all said the same.
Theophylact - As they returned thanks, before they drank, so they return thanks after drinking; wherefore it is said, "And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives," to teach us to return thanks both before and after our food.
Pseudo-Jerome - For by a hymn he means the praise of the Lord, as is said in the Psalms [Psalm 22, 26, 29], "The poor shall eat and be satisfied; they that seek after the Lord shall praise Him." And again, "All such as be fat upon earth have eaten and worshipped."
Theophylact - He also shews by this that He was glad to die for us, because when about to be betrayed, He deigned to praise God. He also teaches us when we fall into troubles for the sake of the salvation of many, not to be sad, but to give thanks to God, Who through our distress works the salvation of many.
Bede - That hymn in the Gospel of John may also be meant, which the Lord sang, returning thanks to the Father, in which also He prayed, raising His eyes to Heaven, for Himself and His disciples, and those who were to believe, through their word.
Theophylact - Again, He went out into a mountain, that they might come to Him in a lonely place, and take Him without tumult. For if they had come to Him, whilst He was abiding in the city, the multitude of the people would have been in an uproar, and then His enemies, who took occasion against Him, should seem to have slain Him justly, because He stirred up the people.
Bede - Beautifully also does the Lord lead out His disciples, when they had tasted His Sacraments, into the mount of Olives, to shew typically that we ought through the reception of the Sacraments to rise up to higher gifts of virtue, and graces of the Holy Ghost, that we may be anointed in heart.
Pseudo-Jerome - Jesus also is held captive on the mount of Olives, whence He ascended to Heaven, that we may know, that we ascend into Heaven from that place in which we watch and pray; there we are bound and do not tend back again to earth.
Bede - But the Lord foretells to His disciples what is about to happen to them, that when they have gone through it, they may not despair of salvation, but work out their repentance, and be freed. Wherefore there follows: "And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of Me this night."
Pseudo-Jerome - All indeed fall, but all do not remain fallen. For shall not he who sleeps also rise up again? [Psalm 40:9] It is a carnal thing to fall, but devilish to remain lying when fallen.
Theophylact - The Lord allowed them to fall that they might not trust in themselves, and lest He should seem to have prophesied, what He had said, as an open accusation of them, He brings forward the witness of Zechariah the Prophet; wherefore it goes on: "For it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." [Zechariah 13:7]
Bede - This is written in different words in Zecharias, and in the person of the Prophet it is said to the Lord, "Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered."
Pseudo-Jerome - For the Prophet prays for the Passion of the Lord, and the Father answers, I will smite the shepherd according to the prayers of those below. The Son is sent and smitten by the Father, that is, He is made Incarnate and suffers.
Theophylact - But the Father say, "I will smite the shepherd," because He permitted him to be smitten. He calls the disciples sheep, as being innocent and without guile. At last He consoles them, by saying, "But after that I am risen I will go before you into Galilee."
Pseudo-Jerome - In which the true Resurrection is promised, that their hope may not be extinguished. There follows: "But Peter said unto Him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I." Lo a bird unfledged strives to raise itself on high; but the body weighs down the soul, so that the fear of the Lord is overcome by the fear of human death.
Bede - Peter then promised in the ardour of his faith, and the Saviour as God knew what was to happen.
Wherefore it goes on: "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, that this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice."
Augustine, de Con. Even. iii, 2: Though all the Evangelists say that the Lord foretold that Peter was to deny before the cock crew, Mark alone has related it more minutely, wherefore some from inattention suppose that he does not agree with the others.
For the whole of Peter's denial is threefold; if it had begun altogether after the cock crew, the other three Evangelist would seem to have spoken falsely, in saying, that before the cock crew, he would deny Him thrice. Again, if he had finished the entire threefold denial before the cock began to crow, Mark would in the person of the Lord seem to have said needlessly, "Before the cock crow twice, thou shall deny Me thrice."
But because that threefold denial began before the first cock-crowing, the other three did not notice when Peter was to finish it, but how great it was to be, that is, threefold, and when it was to begin, that is, before the cock crew, although the whole was conceived in his mind, even before the first cock crew; but Mark has related more plainly the interval between his words themselves.
Theophylact - We are to understand that it happened thus; Peter denied once, then the cock crew for the second time.
Pseudo-Jerome - Who is the cock, the harbinger of day, but the Holy Ghost? by whose voice in prophecy, and in the Apostles, we are roused from our threefold denial, to most bitter tears after our fall, for we have thought evil of God, spoken evil of our neighbours, and done evil to ourselves.
Bede - The faith of the Apostle Peter, and his burning love for our Lord, is shewn in what follows.
For it goes on: "But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee in any wise."
Theophylact - The other disciples also shewed a fearless zeal. For there follows, "Likewise also said they all," but nevertheless they acted against the truth, which Christ had prophesied.
- text taken from Catena Aurea - Gospel of Mark by Saint Thomas Aquinas, translated by William Whiston, 1842