JESUS & BETRAYAL Part Two

 

When the rubber met the road, everyone left.

After three years of fellowship and camaraderie, of learning and growing and suffering together--boom. Gone. Betrayed by one of their own. What else is there to do? One of their own led them into a trap. 

Then, the person who jumped up to promise he'd never, ever leave just hours before...pretended he didn't even know his friend.

Out of a dozen, only one bothered showing up. And at that, nothing could be done. The events were set in motion before time began. The best he could do was stay and be there. Assure his friend he would watch over his widowed mother. And hold down the fort. 

Sound familiar by now? If you are a follower of Christ, you probably got tipped off already. But to clarify, we're talking about Jesus, the cross, and the fact that He knows betrayal well.

Did He have an unfair advantage, knowing very well that Judas would betray Him? I'd like to pose a different notion: How did He still love Judas, and wash his feet, and treat him as an equal when He would have known the suffering that would be set into motion by Judas' inability to see? 

Or did Jesus separate Judas from the actions Satan would influence him to do? Separate the sin from the sinner. It's easier for Him to do that. He's God. 

...But as fully God as He is, He is also fully man. The crucifixion was excruciating beyond belief. He was whipped nearly to death before the crucifixion even began! The three years of His ministry full of trials and pain and rejection--from His own hometown and beyond. So the emotional pain of watching His disciples and friends ditch Him, including presumably two of the three of His closest inner circle, was probably eclipsed a little. (Or perhaps it was magnified with frustration as the time for His sacrifice approached--He'd warned them time and again of the coming crucifixion, and yet they were so completely unprepared and unassuming.) 

We just don't know. 

But what we do know, is that Jesus knows betrayal intimately. Even further, the Lord knows our every hurt and tear and pain. He knows our hurts and hurts with us. It shouldn't come as a surprise when even our close friends and family backstab, because if they could do it to Him, how much more easily can they do it to others? The Lord didn't promise an easy life. In fact, He says He did not come to bring peace, but to bring a sword that divides one from another in Matthew 10. This doesn't mean acting out violently, but being prepared with the knowledge that following Jesus comes at a cost. Some just won't get it. Some will claim to follow Him but still follow the world. Some will follow their selfish desires instead. And those who diligently follow Jesus can expect to be caught in the crosshairs--because the others simply will not get it. 

Sure easy to understand when we're talking about believers versus unbelievers. But what about fellow believers who still betray and follow their selfish desires and lie and cheat and gossip and create rumors and backstab? And the list goes on. 

I could rant and rave about it plenty. But instead, I want to offer a reminder: the crucifixion was part of God's plan from the beginning of time. Which means that Judas' betrayal was part of His plan from the beginning, too. The Lord also knew that His disciples would scatter...but the remaining disciples, minus Judas, would come back. They would see the resurrection. They would believe. They would spread the story of His death and resurrection far and wide, to the ends of the earth. And He knew that their mission would be picked up by generation after generation, right up to where we are now and beyond. The evil influence that overtook Judas? Turned for God's glory and literally everyone's good. (Romans 8:28). 

It's easier to believe that Romans 8:28 promise when things are good. And it's a lot harder when things aren't good. When there are so many burdens on your heart that you don't even know where to begin when you pray. When there are people coming against you. When you're the one trashed for standing up for what's right. When you're the one who points out a problem and ends up a pariah. 

But God saw all of that before He even formed you. He knew what would happen in your life. He knows the hurt that will come your way, and He has a plan to redeem and restore every ounce of it for His glory and your good--if we just trust Him to take care of it. (Psalm 139.) He turns darkness into light. 

He is with us always, even to the end of the age. 

He created us all. And though it grieves Him when someone goes astray and errs on the side of wickedness, and when believers walk in the works of the flesh, and come after His children--He knows how to deal justly with them and how to turn around evil and use it for good. As a testimony of His power and might. We only need to cast aside fear and be still (Exodus 14:14).

So if you're walking in the midst of pain, or you've got a Judas in your life, or you're struggling with circumstances out of your control: He knows, His heart hurts with yours, and He has a plan of redemption for you, for those circumstances--one that you'll just have to share with others when you walk up out of that valley. 

Hold tight. Darkness eclipsed the earth that Friday long ago. Anguish and mourning came that Shabbat day in between. But Sunday was coming.