URC Daily Devotion for Friday 20th March 2026
Then Jesus said to them, ‘You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written,
“I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.”
But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.’ Peter said to him, ‘Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.’ And so said all the disciples.
Reflection
‘Love hurts, love scars’, so crooned the Everly Brothers in the 1960’s and many artists in their wake.
This reading seems to capture the hurts and the scars of love between Jesus and his disciples. Jesus knew that the disciples would desert him, that his band of disciples would be scattered, that his work over the past three years would appear to be all for nothing. How painful must that have been to bear?
The disciples are mortified that Jesus could even think it. They had no intention of abandoning their leader. They sincerely believed that they would stand by him. It must have hurt to hear Jesus make this pronouncement.
It hurts because of love; Jesus’ love for his disciples and their love for him.
Julian of Norwich meditated on the love of Jesus. In her writings she said, ‘And I, seeing all this through his grace, saw that the love he has for our soul is so strong that he sought our soul with great longing and willingly suffered for it – and paid for it in full.’ (1)
Although the disciples would be scattered Jesus gives them assurance that they would be drawn back together, that he would go ahead of them. That same love would bring them back together, as surely as the cock crows, as surely as the sun rises.
1:Upjohn, Sheila. The Way of Julian of Norwich:
A Prayer Journey Through Lent . SPCK. Kindle Edition.
Prayer
Lord, You know that we love You;
You know our thoughts and intentions,
Know the depth of devotion
Found in our lives today.
If our love has weakened, if our fervour has waned,
Turn us, Lord, by Your Spirit,
Let us love with love unfeigned.
Lord, You know that we love You!
Help that love to be true;
Fill our lives with Your Spirit’s power,
Lord of love, make us strong –
We who to Christ belong.
Words and Music: Howard Davies, Salvation Army Song Book, 2015 Edition
It can be heard here.