The Last Week: It is easy to miss Jesus

John 13:21-30

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.

Where you sit at an important dinner can affect your experience, especially if someone at your dinner has something important to say. If you sit further away, you might not hear as well as you would if you were next to the honored guest. Or, how you are sitting could also make your experience less pleasant than someone else's experience. Where and how the disciples sat at the Last Supper with Jesus kept them from a pivotal moment in their Teacher's ministry. But, for Judas, it changed him, not for the better, but for the worst, he could get.

Jesus shared a meal with His disciples during His last week before going to the cross. He shared a meal with people He knew would betray Him and deny Him. For us, it would be hard to sit at a table or be in the presence of someone who was about to hurt us. But Jesus's love for us is far stronger than anything we could imagine.

If the Last Supper proves anything to us, it shows that we can miss the forgiveness and grace of Jesus, even if He is sitting next to us. The context of today's passage (John 13:21-30) focuses on how Jesus knew Judas planned to betray Him soon after their dinner. It became apparent to Judas that Jesus, the man he vowed to follow, knew what Judas had on his mind. Still, Jesus gave Judas a chance not to fall, but there was no turning back. Jesus invested time with Judas, but Judas left all that behind, and the devil took over him.

Salvation was sitting next to Judas. A life full of promises and joy was directly next to him. Everything Judas ever needed was less than an arm's length away. But Judas missed it. Judas missed Jesus.

There is a saying that goes, "You can miss Heaven by 18 inches." This phrase is talking about the distance from your head to your heart. But, the Last Supper shows us that we can miss Heaven when we are sitting next to and directly looking in the face of Jesus, the One who is the only way to Heaven. (John 14:6)

We may not sit next to Jesus at dinner tonight, but we have every opportunity to turn to Him. We have every opportunity to see His beautiful grace. His Word gives us all we need to understand that we cannot enter Heaven without a relationship with Him.

Don't get distracted, and don't miss Heaven.