I hope that God is working in your life as we walk through this week. I pray that in your time of prayer and Bible reading, you are taking some quiet time to listen to God and this is much more than just another box to check on your daily task list.
Today is often referred to as Maundy Thursday. This is traditionally recognized as the day of the Last Supper and when Jesus was handed over to the chief priests. We often think of Judas as the one who turned away from Jesus. The one who, after seeing everything Jesus had done, took the money and ran. The one out of the twelve that walked away. The fact is that we all, at some point in our lives, turn away from Jesus. We are all sinners. We all have had a moment when we walked away. A moment when perhaps we denied being a follower of Christ. Maybe it was a moment of fear. Maybe we wanted to fit in with the crowd we were with. Maybe we were ashamed of the life we were living.
Judas was not the only one of the twelve to turn away from Jesus that day. We are familiar with Peter’s denial of Christ. But in Matthew 26: 31 Jesus tells his closest disciples that “This very night you will all fall away on account of me.” It wasn’t just Judas and Peter. Every one of Jesus’ closest friends and disciples ran and vanished into the night. When you struggle in your faith, you are not alone.
This day was a very full day for Jesus. There is so much going on in this story. From the Last Supper, the prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, to the arrest of Jesus. This was a busy day and the emotions running through the disciples went from excitement and joy to fear and anguish. As the night came to an end, every one of them had scattered and left Jesus alone.
Today’s Readings:
Matthew 26: 17-56
Psalm 21
