How much drama can be squeezed into the words of this passage. Jesus had the Passover meal planned, including the room, the meal, and the mysterious man who would lead them to the room. Jesus wanted to prepare the disciples for what was ahead, even though they would be stressed and discouraged. It hit me that our Triune God knows every single detail of our lives as well, and He is preparing us for what is ahead. May you and I have our eyes and ears open to His leading, curious of what He will show us. Msg we be true to Him, regardless of the skeptics and critics. We cannot fix the motives of a betrayer, but we can stay glued to the One who loves us.
“Lord, help me to be still before you. Lead me to a greater vision of who you are, and in so doing, may I see myself—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Grant me the courage to follow you, to be faithful to become the unique person you have created me to be. I ask you for the Holy Spirit’s power to not copy another person’s life or journey. “God, submerge me in the darkness of your love, that the consciousness of my false, everyday self falls away from [me] like a soiled garment. . . . May my ‘deep self’ fall into your presence. . . . knowing you alone . . . carried away into eternity like a dead leaf in the November wind.”24 In Jesus’ name, amen.” - Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality
“That evening was not the first time Jesus had spoken about being betrayed (Mark 9:30–31), but it was the first time he specifically said the betrayer was one of them. The one who would betray him was an insider, part of their inner circle. He was someone eating the Passover meal with them—“one who is eating with me” (Mark 14:18).
What Jesus said was shocking and disturbing. It left the disciples “distressed” (Mark 14:19) and unsettled. Betrayal meant treachery from within. It also represented a threat to everything they had hoped Jesus would do in Jerusalem as the Messiah. Their reaction was expressed in the form of a question, asked by each of them. “Surely, not I?” (Mark 14:19).” - Excerpt, Following Jesus: Discipleship in the Gospel of Mark by Steve Langford
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