“And It Was Night”

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading, titled And It Was Night, was written by Tim Gustafson. Elie Wiesel's book, Night, starkly confronts us with the horrors of the Holocaust. Based on his own experiences in Nazi death camps, Wiesel's account flips the biblical story of the Exodus. While Moses and the Israelites escaped slavery at the first Passover, Wiesel tells of the Nazis arresting Jewish leaders following Passover.

Lest we criticize Wiesel and his dark irony, consider that the Bible contains a similar plot twist. On the night of Passover, Jesus, expected to free God's people from suffering, instead permits himself to be arrested by those who would kill him. John ushers us into the holy scene before Jesus' arrest. Troubled in spirit over what awaited him, at the Last Supper, Jesus predicted his betrayal. Then, in an act we can scarcely comprehend, Christ served his betrayer bread. John 13 30 reads, As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out, and it was night.

History's greatest injustice was under way. Yet, Jesus declared in verse 31, Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. In a few hours, the disciples would experience panic, defeat, and dejection. But Jesus saw God's plan unfolding as it should. When it seems as though the darkness is winning, we can recall that God faced his dark night and defeated it. He walks with us.

It won't always be night. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from John chapter 13 verses 21 through 32. After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me. His disciples stared at one another at a loss to know which of them he meant.

One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, Ask him which one he means. Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, Lord, who is it?

Jesus answered, It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish. Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, What you are about to do, do quickly. But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out, and it was night. When he was gone, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.

If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself and will glorify him at once. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you so much for keeping your Father's plan in view when you went to the cross. Thank you for conquering death and saving us. We love you, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.