Holy Week Daily Devotional: Wednesday

Image: "Christ addressing his disciples at the Last Supper" by J. Le Breton; glass studio of Gaudin, Paris, 1933 http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=29385

Scripture Reading: John 13:21-32

13:21 After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, "Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me."

13:22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking.

13:23 One of his disciples--the one whom Jesus loved--was reclining next to him;

13:24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking.

13:25 So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"

13:26 Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot.

13:27 After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do."

13:28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him.

13:29 Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the festival"; or, that he should give something to the poor.

13:30 So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

13:31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.

13:32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

Devotional: Rev. Rae Kim

Action for the Day:

1. How can we be faithful to the commitment we made to follow Jesus Christ, who loved everyone until death? How about we try to spend this day without blaming others or complaining about our situations?

2. Check in with someone who "went away" from your life. Call, text, or email someone you have not contacted for a long time and seek to rebuild a loving and caring relationship

Closing Prayer: The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things

which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish

the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking, as Jesus did,

This sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it,

Trusting that You will make all things right,

If I surrender to Your will,

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.