Betrayal
“Judas Iscariot was out doin’ his dirty work. He figured Jesus would be headed to one of His favorite spots to pray after supper . . . So here come Judas with a posse of Roman soldiers and their cohorts. Along with ’em was some religious so-called officers sent by the chief priests and for sure some of them hottentot Pharisees with their lanterns and torches . . . Jesus knew all along what was takin’ place so He went out to meet ’em face to face and asked, ‘Who are y’all lookin’ for?’ ‘Jesus the Nazarene’ . . . Jesus done spoke up sayin’. ‘I am He.’ For sure that no good Judas was standin’ right up in the front with ’em'”—John 18:2-5 (“The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”).
Have you ever been betrayed? Yeah, I reckon most of us at some time or another have been or at least have felt betrayed. It’s bad enough to be betrayed by a company or cooperation, on social media, in the workplace or at school. But to be betrayed by a friend or close acquaintance; well, that likely hurts most of all.
That’s what happened in the best-known betrayal scenes of all time. Even folks that are not well acquainted with the Bible know about Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.
It was in the dark of night. Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane kneeling upon a rock with droplets of blood cascading from His brow. And there in that place and at that hour He once and for all settled the matter of the cross, “Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt” Mark 14:36 (KJV).
At that moment, Judas appeared with a great company of soldiers and religious authorities commissioned by the priests to find and arrest Jesus. And there, in a garden, amid a grove of old gnarled olive trees, Judas betrayed the Lord into the hands of enemies.
Notice, Judas did not point Jesus out to the soldiers. He did not tap Him on the shoulder and say, “Here He is!” He betrayed Him with a kiss. The word used in the original language seems to indicate that Judas kissed Jesus again and again. A kiss is a common expression of affection, but in this case it was the kiss of deceitful betrayal . . .
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy” (Proverbs 27:6).
The most hurtful betrayal of my life came at the hands of fellow-workers who joined an effort with me to plant and start a church. Thinking all was going well, behind the scenes seeds of distrust and deception were being planted by would-be friends that led to a major betrayal in the life and ministry of a young and growing fellowship of Christians.
Maybe something like that has happened to you. So, what do you do? Do you retaliate? Do you become vengeful? Do you say, “I’m going to get even?”
Well, let’s look at what Jesus did. He said, “Peter, put away your sword” (Matthew 26:52). You see, the answer is not vengeance or getting even. The answer is forgiveness. Yeah, I know that is not easy to do. But God’s Word shows us that by forgiving those who have wronged us that you will . . .
“Heap burning coals on their head, And the LORD will reward you” (Proverbs 25:22).
And in the same vein, Paul in his letter to the Romans tells us . . .
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).
