TODAY IS…

a good day to say, “It will not be me, Lord!”

“Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one, Lord?”  Matthew 26:22 NLT

Throughout history there have always been those who have been sentenced to die and who have sat in a jail cell awaiting their fate. Living each day with that knowledge cannot be an easy thing to do, no matter what it was that an individual did to “earn” such a sentence.

Now, try to imagine living your life knowing that it would end with your being brutally mistreated and then crucified – and being innocent of wrong doing. Imagine you are sitting down to dinner with twelve of your closest friends, knowing this would be the last time you would all be together. As you look around at the smiling, unsuspecting faces of people you love, your gaze comes to the one you know is going to place you in the hands of those who will ultimately take your life.

The pain that Jesus must have felt is never discussed. He is very calm and simply points out that the betrayal is coming, and it will be by one of the twelve enjoying this last supper together. “As they were eating, He said, ‘Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.’” (Matthew 26:21 NASB).

One has to wonder why, rather than steadfastly stating that “It will not be me, Lord!” each of the twelve, in turn asked, “Am I the one?” Of course, we all know that it was Judas who handed Jesus over to those who wished Him harm.

But we also know that the other eleven disciples vanished to avoid the same fate, so in a sense they all betrayed Him. Their faith was shaken by their failure to understand what Christ had been trying to teach them about His pending death and its role in fulfilling God’s Promise of a Messiah and the Salvation the Messiah would bring. Even after spending all that time walking with Christ, talking with Him, and listening to Him preach and witnessing the numerous miracles He performed while healing and helping those He came to serve – even after all of that, they all had their individual moments of doubt.

It was not until His resurrection that their faith became unshakable. It was not until they saw Him alive after they witnessed His death that they finally were able to fully give themselves over to Him as His apostles.

We do not have the unique honor of being able to have Jesus Christ sit at the same table with us and share supper. We must operate strictly on our faith. We must, in a way, be more confident of Christ than even those who walked with Him. Our faith must be pure, it must be strong, and it must be true. We must look at all the Bible tells us and become convinced beyond all doubt so if we hear the voice of Christ say “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me,” we can stand up and say, with fierce conviction, “It will not be me, Lord!”

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson