40 Days of Easter 2011 Devotional

40 Days of Easter - April 3, 2011

Written by: Dewayne Wilmore

THE PASSOVER
Matthew 26: 17-25

Focal Verse:
Matthew 26: 21-22 And while they were eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me." They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?"

It was the Passover, a time of celebrating and remembering. Then Jesus broke the news to them -- "one of you shall betray me." The statement brought an emotional shock to the eleven of the disciples and, one by one, they began to ask, "Lord, is it I?" Each was genuinely troubled. Would a weakness known only to the Lord cause him to betray Jesus?

There was also something honest and right about the eleven disciples' responses. They did not say, "It must be this one or that one." Their souls were troubled wondering, "Lord, is it I?" The only one without the correct response was Judas, aware of his own guilt. Yet knowing he had already betrayed Christ, he was unrepentant.

It is hard to believe that one would not know if he were planning such a deed. Yet each day, either through apathy or weakness, we may "betray" Christ and not be fully aware of it. There are times when we all should ask, "Lord, is it I?"

Let our response and prayer be like the words of the song "Search Me, O God" written by James E. Orr in 1936:
Search me, O God, and know my heart today,
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray;
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.