March 20, 2026 | Be Connected
Jesus Shares the Last Supper
Scripture: John 13:19-38(NIV)
19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. 20 Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”
21 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.”
22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”
25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”
26 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. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 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. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
Devotional
Enjoying a meal with His disciples, Jesus is having His last conversation with all of His beloved followers. The disciples do not understand that this is the last meal they will have with Jesus, so they are just seeming to have normal conversations. Jesus begins to tell them in John 13:18-19 “He who shares my bread has turned against me. I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am.” They are surprised by this comment and begin to speak saying it will not be them.
Peter asks who it will be and says he would like to go where Jesus is going. But Jesus says from John 13:36-38 “you cannot follow now, but you will follow later ……before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
Reading these verses makes me think of having a strong and dedicated group of friends. In my mind, these people would do anything for me and support me whenever it was needed. Can you imagine knowing that one of them will betray you but still treating them as you always do, even doing as far as washing their feet prior to visiting with them? Jesus makes it look so easy to love them all and still acknowledge who will betray Him before he dies.
He gives this command to all reading John 13:34 “Love one another, as I have loved you.” He loves us all with no judgement. No matter our past, present or what is to come, He loves us unconditionally. We must all continually remember that verse, even when we are at our lowest and worst point of our life—Jesus is always with us, guiding us to the right path.
