The Week That Changed The World Devotional March 18

MARK 14:17-21 | ¹⁷ When it was evening, he came with the twelve. ¹⁸ And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” ¹⁹ They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” ²⁰ He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. ²¹ For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”

Last week we dealt with Judas’ betrayal at some length and its possible motivators. Jesus could have thwarted this betrayal easily by changing plans or removing Judas from the 12. Instead, He does something fascinating. He announces the betrayal without naming Judas. But He also issues a warning to Judas about the consequences of his coming action. He makes an appeal to him and notifies the others that certain actions have dire consequences.  Intimate connection and loyalty is hard to build and it took the disciples years to develop trust in one another. It can be destroyed in a moment.

Have you ever seen trust destroyed?

Gracious God,

Restrain us in those moments when we are tempted to violate trust, which is hard to build and harder to recover.

Amen.