“When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.’

“They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, ‘Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?’

“Jesus replied, ‘The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.'”

“Then Judas, the one who would betray him said, ‘Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?’

“Jesus answered, ‘You have said so.'”

Matthew 26:20-25

The setting for these verses is the Last Supper in the Upper Room. This would be the last time the disciples would all be together before the crucifixion of Jesus.

What is astonishing about this passage is that right after Judas says this, Jesus offers to him the holy sacrament of bread and wine. It would not be surprising to me if Jesus were looking into the eyes of Judas when Jesus broke bread and said, “Judas, this is my body broken for you. This is the blood of the new covenant which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

It’s as if Jesus was saying to Judas, “You don’t have to do this. You can repent. You can change your ways. But even if you don’t, remember you are mine. I will forgive you this sin as well.”

Astonishing grace.

Astounding love.

It’s not just Judas who would betray Jesus that night. Within a few hours, Peter will so vehemently deny Jesus that Peter curses and swears that he does not know this man!

It’s not just Judas and Peter who would deny Jesus.

When the chief priest and the elders of the people arrive with the Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus, Matthew tells us, “Then all the disciples deserted Jesus and fled” (Matthew 26:56).

In a matter of hours after the Last Supper, every single one of the disciples of Jesus deserted Jesus.

Jesus knew this. Jesus knew every single one of his disciples would betray him, disavow him, desert him and yet still offered up his body and blood for his disciples in the holy sacrament of communion and ultimately on the cross.

This is why we have hope.

How many times have we betrayed him? Disavowed him? Deserted him?

Yet, Jesus still offers himself to us to forgive our sins.

Astonishing grace.

Astounding love.

Thank you, Jesus.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

It’s midnight. You should be in bed. But the Mariner’s game went into extra innings. Not only should you be in bed, but now, you’re hungry. You ate dinner at five. It’s been seven hours since your last meal. What should you do?

• Your feelings say – I’m hungry!!! Let’s eat!!!
• Your brain tells you – Go to bed!!! No way are you eating at midnight!!!

It’s raining again. We do live in the Pacific Northwest after all. You should take a walk. It would be good for you. You made a commitment to get healthier. But it’s raining. What should you do?

• Your feelings say – it’s raining. It’s wet. You don’t want to put on all that gear and walk. Just call it a day. Besides, this sofa is so comfy.
• Your brain tells you – you made a commitment to be healthier. Commitments matters. Besides, you benefit the most from being healthier. Let’s get out there.

When it comes to living healthier lives you would never consider following your feelings. If you were truly serious about living healthy, you base it on commitment and to what you know to be right.

We know this when it comes to living physically healthy lives. And it just boggles my mind why we would allow our hearts to dictate how we live healthy spiritual and emotional lives. That’s dumb!!! Our hearts cannot be trusted. Feelings cannot be trusted.

In fact, our passage today tells us that we are to trust our hearts and our feelings to the LORD. That’s what it means to not lean on our own understanding.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LIVE A GOD-HONORING LIFE BY LIVING BASED ON FEELINGS.

In all your ways submit to God and his rule. Then God will make our paths straight.

Whatever you do, DO NOT TRUST YOUR HEART. It will lead you astray.

TRUST IN THE LORD WITH YOUR HEART.

Got it?

“In you, LORD my God, I put my trust” (Psalm25:1).

What does it mean to trust God?

First, you have to know WHO it is you are putting your trust in. The one we trust is God. What kind of a God is he?

He is a God who absolutely loves us. There is nothing short of sin that God will not do to demonstrate his unconditional love for us.

Not only does God love us with an unconditional love, our God wants what is best for us. Nothing pleases God more than to see us living our best lives, becoming best selves.

Not only does God love us, not only does he want what is best for us, he knows better than us. You can absolutely trust God because he is trustworthy in every sense. He loves us. He wants what is best for us. And he knows what is best, even better than we do.

Secondly, what does it mean to trust God?

Love what Augustine said about this. He said:

Trust the past to God’s mercy,
the present to God’s love,
the future to God’s providence.

There is nothing in the past that God has not forgiven. It is absolutely true that there is much in our past that condemns us. But that’s all forgiven. When we repent and ask God for forgiveness, all of that is done away with as if we had never sinned. That’s good news. That’s mercy.

Every single day is a gift of God’s love. God gave us this day so that we might rejoice and be glad in it. God gave us the gift of this day so that God can use us to be an agent of blessing to the people around us. Trust God with today and all that it has to bring.

No one knows what the future holds. But we know who holds the future and who is present in our future. God is there. Not only is God present in our future, but he is working things out in our day to bring about God’s kingdom. God is actively at work in the present to ensure that the promises of God are our future reality.

Trust in God. Fully rely on God. Lean on him. Rest in him. He is LORD our God.