And It Was Night

"So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night."

John 13:30

Jesus is in the upper room with His disciples. He has washed their feet -- even the feet of Judas Iscariot, the one who would betray Him -- as an example of how the disciples are to serve one another. He reveals that He will be betrayed and the disciples ask which one of them it is. Jesus answers, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” And He serves the morsel to Judas. "After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, 'What you do, do quickly.'” (v. 27). Ray Steadman writes: "But Judas still had a chance to retreat. Jesus would never have tried to reach him had he not still had an opportunity to recover at this point. When Jesus gave him the morsel, and Judas took it and ate it without a word or a sign of repentance or remorse, he passed the point of no return." And then Judas departed into the night. How symbolic. For Judas to turn away from the Lord and go his own way, was to leave The Light and walk into darkness. And it was in darkness that Judas would die by his own hand. "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:6-7)

Glorious Hope

"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

John 14:1-3

Here is our blessed Savior, eating the last supper with His disciples in the shadow of the cross. In a few hours one of the twelve will betray Him and He will taste the bitterness of Calvary. But for now He is focused on comforting those closest to Him, promising them that even though they will be separated from Him, He will take care of them. He is going to prepare a place for them, that they will one day be with Him in Heaven. What a beautiful picture of the compassion and love of our Lord, always putting others before Himself. Even facing His own death, He gave hope to His disciples. We can share in that hope today. The promise He made to His disciples that night in the upper room, belongs to us, too. Christ will come back and take us home. What a glorious day is ahead of us!