Apr 19 - "A Perfect Response to Betrayal"

“Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray Him to them. They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray Him to them when no crowd was present.” --- Luke 22:3-6

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Have you ever been betrayed? Has someone broken trust with you and seemingly rejected the relationship of honesty and truthfulness you believed was in place?

In this continuing account of Christ’s journey over the final days of His life in human form on the Earth, we see Judas offering up to the Sanhedrin a means for them to capture this rebel Jew. Can you imagine a deeper betrayal? What has Jesus done to warrant this type of treatment from one of His twelve disciples? It seems hard to believe that a man who had witnessed all of Jesus’ miracles, words and loving actions could offer Him up to be arrested and slaughtered.

But yet, we see the Evil One entering into Judas, putting this betrayal in his heart. He becomes yet another pawn used in the attempt to bring down humanity through death.

Betrayal is one of those acts which can cut us to our core. When a stranger steals from us or harms us in some way, the physical outcome may be the same as when it is done by someone we know. But, the emotional harm placed upon us when a person who is close to us or whom we love harms us can almost destroy us. The trust which is destroyed as a part of this betrayal is something that can often never be restored. Our response, when faced with a betrayal is, at best, a loss of love for that person, at worst anger and even hatred can settle in. The restoration of that trust may never occur.

How does Jesus respond to His betrayal? He willingly accepts it as His Father’s will. Jesus has known from the beginning of Time that Judas would betray Him. He also had the power to bring the power of legions of angels…or at least eleven of His friends…to stop it from happening. But He knows that this betrayal has been foretold and that this betrayal is a part of the sacrifice He must make to save all of us.

Should we expect ourselves to respond like Jesus when faced with betrayal? Maybe for some little thing, we could let it go. But what about the big ones? The business associate who steals from you; the friend who discards the trust of a secret you shared ; the spouse who breaks the marriage covenant; all of these seem unforgivable. What would we do when faced with any of these? It is hard to imagine being able to forgive these things. And even if someday forgiven, how could we not take action to eliminate the risk of betrayal again in the future by disbanding the business, ending the friendship or leaving the marriage?

What did Jesus do? His response is perfect: peaceful acceptance without judgment or retribution. We will see many examples of His perfection over the course of the next couple of days as a part of the events to unfold.

So, as always, look to Jesus as our guide. For even though we may experience the deep pain of a betrayal, we must still find a way to love.