Christ the Greatest Hero in Battle

do, without making bitter reproaches to them about it. It is once again entirely the language of love, friendship, and leniency. They are meant to feel their own weakness all the more vividly, while simultaneously learning to see that nothing unexpected is happening to their Teacher, so that they might find peace again more quickly after the event. The Resurrection and the journey to Galilee still lay before them—how much comfort there was for them later in these refreshing words! The sublime Sage original: erhabene Weise; the author frequently uses titles like "Sage" or "Wise One" to describe Jesus, reflecting an Enlightenment-era emphasis on His moral teachings and intellect., who well knows the impact of the following scenes of horror upon their spirits, does not intend to hold against their hearts what happens merely out of human weakness. He thus forgives them before they fail; He reconciles Himself with them before they abandon Him.

— But Peter, with his vehement temperament, begins: “Lord, even if all the others should fall away from You, I would never do it. No! I shall never desert You!” So little does man know himself; so little does he know what he will decide an hour from now, or how he will act on the following day! Deeply, very deeply, even an otherwise good person can sink when certain circumstances...