After instituting the Communion sacraments, Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn (ὑμνἐω: hum-neo…this is where we get the word “hymn” because in Medieval Greek the “u” started to be pronounced like our “y”) and left the Upper Room to go hang out in one of their favorite places on the Mount of Olives.
When they arrived in the garden Jesus told them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” What the ESV translates as “fall away” here is rendered “be offended” in the KJV. The Greek word is σκανdαλίζω (skan-da-litz-o) which is you will recognize as the English word “scandalized.” Most Greek dictionaries define it as “cause to stumble.” It’s used a lot in the Bible, most notably in the “if your eye scandalizes you pluck it out” passages. Paul uses it to talk about things that might cause your brother to stumble. [Side note: Unlike most of the other quotes from Jesus in this chapter and elsewhere is Mark this one is introduced as “indirect speech” which in Greek is usually the way a writer indicates something that he heard second hand. Maybe Mark is saying that he wasn’t among those that actually heard this, but then many people believe he was around later when Jesus was arrested.]
Peter is again the first to speak out against Jesus’ prediction: “If even all (men) are scandalized, not me!” When Jesus tells Peter the details about his forthcoming denial, the disciple doubles down saying, “If I might be tied up to be killed with you, no not (using the Greek double negative) will I deny you.”
And all the rest said likewise, following in Peter’s example.
But they were all scandalized soon after. They all scattered. When the shepherd was struck one young man (who is assumed to be the author of this Gospel) was so eager to get away that he lost his cloak and ran off naked.
Today people are being “cancelled” left and right by “scandals” both real and imagined. It seems to have become so important to be thought well of that we are willing to stop thinking well, at least out loud. Many people would rather be “tied up to be killed” than suffer ridicule. Maybe Peter really would have stood by Jesus if there was a full-scale battle to fight. He drew his sword and struck a blow before he was restrained by his Master. It’s easier to justify resistance to overt oppression than to subtle social coercion. But if no one is willing to speak unpopular truth, popular lies will be all anyone ever hears.
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.
-Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Reich Minister of Propaganda
So shall we be scandalized or stand by quietly and allow everyone to be propagandized?
