The
Disciples were Afraid and Fled The apostles were afraid when Jesus was arrested, and fled. Peter denied knowing Jesus three times (Matt. 26: 69-75, Luke 22: 54-62, John 18:15-18, 25-27). It's interesting to speculate what happened to the disciples, since only Peter, John and the women were in evidence after Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:69-75, Mark 14:54, 66-72, Luke 22:54-62, John 18:15-18), during the crucifixion (Matt. 55-56, Mark 15:40-41, John 19:25-27), and early on Sunday morning when the tomb was discovered to be empty (Matt.28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 23:49, John 20: 1-18). John's recording (John claimed to be an eyewitness of all of these events; he refers to himself as "the apostle whom Jesus loved") is the only one that places John at the crucifixion and Peter and John early on Sunday morning at the empty tomb, although all four record Peter's denial of Jesus during his trial in front of Caiaphas. Frank Morison
in Who Moved the Stone? an insightful examination
of the last week of Jesus' life, speculates that the apostles (except for Peter and John) ran to the home of
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus after Jesus' arrest in the Garden of
Gethsemane, and may not have even heard that Jesus was crucified until
after everything was over, on Sunday. Mark
14: 50: Then everyone
deserted him and fled. (NIV) |
