Matthew 26

There are a lot a failures in this passage:

• The failure of the priests to recognize their Messiah
• The failure of Judas to follow and support his teacher and Lord
• The failure of the disciples to stand up for Jesus (predicted)
• The failure of Peter to live up to his commitment (predicted)
• The failure of mankind to live for God

The last one is the reason for the foreshadowing during the Passover meal. Jesus uses the bread and the wine as metaphors for His upcoming death on the cross for our sins. Of course it’s not automatic; we must confess our sins and believe in Jesus to be forgiven!

There are warnings here for disciples too. We will all face difficulties in life. After all, Jesus did! And He faced them with grace when He prayed, “not what I desire, but what you desire.” Can we face our own difficulties with that kind of grace? With the understanding that God does allow bad things to happen for a purpose? Are we willing to stand up for God even when bad things happen? Or will we find ourselves denying our Lord and Savior? We would do well to remember that Jesus was willing to endure the worst thing ever so that we could be saved.

Judas betrayed his Lord willingly, with a kiss. He deliberately betrayed Jesus, while pretending to be His disciple. Do we do that? In a way, I think that we can and do. When we call ourselves disciples and yet willingly and willfully do something that we know is sinful, aren’t we betraying Jesus with a kiss? Or perhaps we’re like Peter. Do we hide whose we are because of fear? Fear that we might lose a relationship, a profit, a promotion, or stature?

The call is to be faithful. To stand firm. To be bold. To remain committed. It’s insightful that here Jesus fully reveals Himself to the religious authorities, through both their words and His own. He is the Christ! He is the Son of God! He is the Son of Man who will come on the clouds! Which means He is the Savior, the one who has the power to judge and the power to forgive, and He will be the one that we have to answer to at the end of the age. How can we be so sure? Because the temple of His body was destroyed, but it was raised again after three days!

Though for the day: With all that He has done, with all that He has fulfilled, with all that He is, how can we betray Him?

1 Corinthians 4:2 (WEB) “Here, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”