HE CAME TO FULFILL - PERSECUTION: THE SHEEP WILL BE SCATTERED

The sheep were to be scattered after the Messiah would be struck. All shall flee in their direction. Yeshua expected it and told His disciples about it in Mark 14: 27 (NIV). 

Fear gripped the disciples. They all fled for their lives. They would not and could not stay by Yeshua. Fear overtook them. That very fear of death, Yeshua came to release us from. 

The fear that death will come if they follow Yeshua. Death to their relationships, businesses, and, of course, lives. They would rather run for their lives than face death alongside Yeshua. They were still ruled by flesh. And Yeshua came to release them from that. 

He defeated death itself. By being resurrected, He rendered death’s power useless. A sign that even if something died, God could bring it back to life. There is no need to fear death. It was in that precise moment that I believe they finally humbled themselves. Offered to Messiah a contrite heart. A heart humbled by their inability to stand by Him in His trial and suffering.

We too shall have to carry our cross. Some will even be martyred. But if we stay by Yeshua no matter how hard it might become, we shall eventually reap a great reward.