BETRAYAL
Have you ever been betrayed?
If you
have trusted someone with a secret that you felt was too dark and horrible for
the public to know about you, yet felt that it was too much to bear alone, then
that someone went and exposed you, you know betrayal. It is an offense that is
difficult to forgive. Many have shared with me how hard it is to open up to
others after having been betrayed in this way.
If you
have taken a position on a critical issue and believed your friend or spouse to
be on your side only to find that they do not support your position, you know
betrayal. Our drama group in college was griping about a sketch we had to
perform. We didn’t like it and it didn’t seem to have a point. When our
director arrived, I spoke up and told her what “we” thought. I turned to the
group and said, “Right, guys?” only to find that they had lost their tongues.
Betrayal leaves you standing alone and feeling stupid.
Jesus
knew very well the feeling of being betrayed by someone who was close to him.
We have entered into the darkest period of Jesus’ life with a look at his
prayer in the Garden. The very next moment after his “Amen” was the coming of
an angry mob who wanted his life. This mob was led by his friend.
It may
seem difficult to understand how a man who walked with Jesus for nearly three
years, who received his love and teaching, and who felt the intimacy of his
company, could turn and betray him. It is a wicked offense. But there is a
sense in which his sufferings would not have been complete without his
betrayal. How could Jesus sympathize with us in all our sufferings unless he
himself had experienced this pain as well? When you feel betrayed – when you
are betrayed – Jesus understands your hurt and your offense.
1. The Betrayer: The man who was called “Judas”
The Gospel writers, writing in hindsight, do not take a
great deal of space to describe the man who betrayed their Lord. We get only
snippets of his character here and there. What the writers do not do is take
pot-shots at the man and defame him – his actions speak for themselves.
John
writes that when Mary, Martha’s sister, pours expensive perfume over Jesus’
head, Judas objects. He protests that the perfume could have been sold and the
money given to the poor. John explains that he said this, not because he cared
about the poor but because he cared about money and as the keeper of the money bag he would often
help himself to some of it (Jn 12:4-6).
In our
text, Luke simply writes, “While he was
still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of
the Twelve, was leading them,” (22:47a). That is the extent of Luke’s
description, and after v. 48 he is never mentioned again.
His role
in the band of disciples is a curious one. Two things stand out: First, it was
prophesied long ago that someone would betray the Christ. David wrote in his
Psalm about a personal betrayal. This was read by the Early Church as a
prophecy. David said, “Even my close
friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against
me,” (Ps 41:9). Another Psalm of David foretold this feeling of betrayal, “If an enemy were insulting me, I could
endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But
it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once
enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng from the house of God,”
(Ps 51:12-14).
Second,
not only was it prophesied that a close friend would betray the Christ, Jesus
knew exactly who it was. Jesus made a remark to his disciples that John
comments on, “Yet there are some of you
who do not believe.’ For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did
not believe and who would betray him,” (Jn 6:64). Shockingly, Jesus knew
what Judas would do and included him anyways.
2. The Betrayal: The Pretence of Friendship
Jesus was no pretender. He was the Man of Love. His love
was genuine and all-encompassing – no one was excluded. Even a Pharisee or a
Sadducee could know this love if they wanted to.
Judas
was closer to this love than the general crowd since he was “one of the
Twelve.” When a parable did not compute with the crowds, it was the Twelve that
got a special and private interpretation. Judas was privy to the insider’s
revelation of the Christ. Jesus knew his heart and yet drew Judas close as a
dear friend. At the Last Supper, Jesus announced that his betrayer was among
them. He said, “…the hand of him who is
going to betray me is with mine on the table,” (22:21). That is an
expression of intimacy.
So when
Judas comes with the mob to arrest Jesus, he arranges a signal, a token of
intimacy to single Jesus out. A hearty kiss. The sign of oneness. It says,
“There is no alienation between us.” Inferiors kissed the back of a hand.
Servants might kiss the palm. Slaves kissed the foot. Kissing the hem of a
garment expressed great reverence. But a kiss on the face and a full embrace is
a sign of close intimacy and warm affection among equals. It is a mark of
selfless love and affection. And that is what makes this kiss the most ugly act
of treachery ever enacted.
“He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus
asked him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’”
(22:47b-48). I don’t know if anything surprised Jesus, but this must have come
close. He knew what Judas was going to do in betraying him but with a kiss of
intimate friendship? Jesus’ heart must have broken in that moment.
Someone
said that it is only a friend who can betray you. Strangers or enemies cannot
be counted as traitors – they aren’t on your side to begin with. Betrayal is a
deep wound precisely because friends aren’t supposed to do that. It makes you
question everything you ever knew or believed in.
3. The Betrayed: The Faithfulness of Jesus
We have seen the kindness of Jesus towards Judas, his
betrayer throughout the gospels. Knowing that he was the one to turn him over,
Jesus still loved Judas. Jesus was and is a faithful friend.
We have
seen in the previous text that Jesus also did not change his pattern for the
night. “Jesus went out as usual to the
Mount of Olives…” (39). He wanted and needed to be found by Judas. Someone
wrote that the location of the Last Supper was not divulged to the disciples
until it was time to eat so that Judas would not give away that location and
spoil Jesus’ last moments with his disciples. I don’t know about that, but it
seems plausible. What we do know is that Jesus was faithful to the Father’s
plan and that he submitted in time and space through prayer to what was going
to happen.
What I
will say is not found in Scripture but is consistent with the faithfulness of
Jesus’ character. I believe that Jesus shows us his loving and forgiving nature
when he restores Peter. He who professed that he would never deny or abandon
his Lord in the face of crisis, three times denied ever knowing Jesus. That, to
me, is the same as betrayal. Peter was overcome with fear and gave up his Lord.
But Jesus brought him back into the intimate friendship of the Lord when he
forgave Peter and commissioned him to feed his sheep (Jn 21:15-19).
What I
say that is not found in Scripture is this: Jesus would have forgiven Judas
too. I cannot believe otherwise. That is the character of Jesus and I am
sticking to it.
However,
we know that Judas was so distraught over his actions that he went off and
killed himself. It seems that Judas was surprised to find that the chief
priests and elders wanted to kill Jesus. So he gave back the thirty silver
coins and went away to hang himself. Judas only cared about money; he didn’t
think Jesus would die. As a result, we will never know what their
reconciliation would have looked like.
Conclusion
There are two ways to apply this event known as the
betrayal of Jesus:
When we
are betrayed, we have the example of Jesus who loved the person who betrayed
him anyways. Incredible love. Jesus treated him as a brother despite his
character. Jesus was ready, I believe, to forgive Judas, we ought to be ready
to forgive our friends too when they hurt us.
John
Bevere, in his book, Bait of Satan, says, “Our response to an offense
determines our future…Many are unable to function properly in their calling
because of the wounds and hurts that offenses have caused in their lives. They
are handicapped and hindered from fulfilling their full potential. Most often
it is a fellow believer who has hurt them. This causes the offense to feel like
a betrayal.” We must deal with these offenses and hurts in a way that does not
let them ruin our lives. We must do the seemingly impossible: name the hurt and
forgive the offender. That’s one side.
The
other side of betrayal is not always on our radar. Like Judas, we are capable
of betraying our Lord. We turn our backs on him. We deny him when we are with
our work friends. We are afraid to mention his name when the conversation cries
out for the name of Jesus. There are times when we could declare what we
believe about him but we are afraid to speak for sounding foolish or
ineloquent. We betray our faith in Jesus too.
But
Jesus is faithful. Judas turned away from forgiveness thinking it impossible
for his actions. Peter, just as guilty, turned to Jesus and chose grace and
life. Peter is proof that because Jesus is faithful, we have the opportunity to
become his faithful friends, disciples, servants and ministers of his grace.
AMEN
Lord Jesus
You who
were betrayed and who go on being betrayed –
Grant us
the courage to stand faithfully for you
In every
situation, no matter the cost.
Transform
our fearfulness and fickleness into faithfulness.
When
your eye searches us this week,
May you
find us loyal and true.
May you
never see betrayal in our actions
Or hear
denial from our lips.
How much
we long to be your faithful friends, O Lord!
Thank
you for your faithful love.
You are
a faithful friend to us to the end of time.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…Though you have not seen him, you
love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are
filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal
of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3, 8-9).
AMEN
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