Today’s scripture: Mark 14:12-21 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message)
As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.
My thoughts (Steve Adams):
Betrayal . . . not a pleasant subject, is it? Yet Jesus wasn’t derailed from His mission by the shock of it. He seemed unshaken, fully able to keep His equilibrium and purpose in clear view during the Passover meal.
How would you or I handle betrayal — an earth-shaking one like Judas’, or a lesser type? I can see my reaction easily falling into three categories of erroneous thinking that David D. Burns clearly describes in his outstanding book on cognitive therapy, Feeling Good. Burns points out that these cognitive distortions are “automatic thoughts” which “run through your mind automatically without the slightest effort on your part to put them there. They are as obvious and natural to you as the way you hold a fork.” (p. 29).
The first one I think Jesus had to overcome (and will help us overcome) is called the “mental filter.”
You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively so that your vision of all reality becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that discolors the entire beaker of water. (p. 42)
It’s so easy to think this way when the single negative detail is a bitter disappointment that impacts your life for the worse. However, it’s in times like those that we need God’s help the most — to help us see that, despite the crushing disappointment, God’s goodness is still a reality, as is the support of the loved ones God has given us.
The second distortion is “emotional reasoning.”
You assume that your negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are: “I feel it, therefore it must be true.” (p. 42).
I think this way of thinking is sometimes why we get stuck in depression and can’t shake it off!
Thirdly, Jesus could have seen it as partly His fault that Judas defected. When someone lets you down, do you ever (at least in the background of your mind), wonder if it’s because you weren’t a good enough parent, teacher, spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend?
You see yourself as the cause of some negative external event which in fact you were not primarily responsible for. (“Personalization,” p. 43).
Now, if it was in fact my fault in some way, then I need to be honest before God and admit it, but, so often — if I’m the type who feels guilt too easily — I need to realize that, what another person does is their responsibility, not mine.
Thought for the day: Learning to identify these distorted mental patterns clears the way for us to replace them with faith, thereby freeing us to follow the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ (see Hebrews 12:2 and 3).
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.