Text: Psalm 41:9, Matthew 26:47-56
The days are going to get much darker before they get light again.
As we study the story of Christ’s betrayal today, I can’t help but catch my breath at the truth that Christ knew Judas would betray Him – He even knew the price – and yet, the word He uses to address Judas was “friend.”
Jesus broke bread with him at dinner. He prayed with him. He talked to the Father about what Judas would inevitably do.
And when the soldiers came into Gethsemane and Judas identified Jesus with a kiss, Christ’s response wasn’t anger. He didn’t spit unkind, vindictive words at Judas while being wrestled away. He went quietly. Even when His beloved disciple and friend gave Him over for 30 pieces of silver (about a month’s wages), He went in love – in obedience.
I’ll be honest. I can’t even imagine.
I want to identify with Christ here – as The Betrayed. But I remember how spitting mad and violated – even self-righteous – I’ve felt in the moments in my own life when I’ve been blindsided by betrayal. I remember all those times I did not respond in love. And isn’t it like our Lord that, even in His darkest betrayal and arrest, He was teaching you and me and His disciples and the soldiers what love and obedience to the Father look like.
Sadly, I cringe to realize I also identify with Judas – The Betrayer. It makes me close my eyes and quietly groan a little to think about the moments I have been guilty of effectively choosing a month’s wages over honoring the One we call Lord. I think of the times I’ve pushed Him aside to further myself. I think of the greed of which I am guilty – greed for money, for status, even for a guarantee of safety that no earthly leader can ever truly guarantee.
But as I think back to our Savior that night, I wonder today: what does it really mean to be Christ to someone who has done you wrong? When you are hurt – really wounded – by a close friend or family member, can you say to the Lord,
“I am certain that I want to honor you more than I want to feel vindicated.”
-Scotty Smith
Christ’s response to Judas wasn’t a sign of weakness (though I’d bet His closest friends may have wondered differently – even Peter as he rose to Christ’s defense!). It was love. Love for Judas. Love for The Father. Love for every one of us in our most shameful, Judas moments.
And in His love He honored His Father, just as He had promised through sweaty, bloody tears in Gethsemane. Christ’s submission to the Father’s omnipotent hand was unwavering.
In His love – not just for Judas and not only for the Father, but for us – He was led to His trial. And He was sentenced to death.
Your betrayals and mine – His blood covers it all. And He calls us “friend.”
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53 thoughts on "betrayed"
Oh Betrayal. Possibly the enemy's greatest weapon against me. I can succumb in an instant to anger and the desire for vindication. Even though I may not lash out to retaliate in the moment, I waste precious time, thoughts, and energy churning with anger… rehearsing over and over in my mind what I would say, what I would do. I become a willing participant in the enemy's game to destroy any hope, any love, any grace I have asked Christ to place on my heart. Why do I do this? How is it so easy for me to abruptly turn away from all that God is showing me, all the love and mercy He grants me, in favor of such darkness? How easily sin entraps me. How quickly I cooperate. This part of the Holy Week story has always challenged me, but Raechel, your devotion convicts. I need it, and I thank you. A lot to think about here…
Even when I betray him, mock him, and hurt him with my sin, he still loves me and calls me friend!! Gotta love it! I am glad that I have a friend in Jesus, despite it all he calls me friend!
This is the first time I’ve commented, although I’ve been reading here for awhile. My heart is so heavy from an unexpected blow from one of my closest friends. I’ve been sitting here, hashing out my response w my husband and I thought I would pull up shereadstruth to see if God had anything to say to me about betrayal. I am so humbled by His outright, extravagant love. He outright spoke directly to me in the midst of my pain and bewilderment and I know exactly what I need to do. I need to love Him more than I need to be vindicated. Thank you Jesus and thank you for this devotion. So grateful for a loving Father.
Jesus takes the high road all the time and if only I had an ounce of His patience and love… I might have avoided some testy situations in my life. Yo Jesus, I want to be like you when I grow up! :-)
Thank you for sharing todays message! It is so much easier to be Christ to people who are kind to us. It's truly humbling to realize I need to ask for strength so I can be Christ to those who have done me wrong and hurt me. When people are hurtful I will practice going quietly as Jesus did, holding my tongue and not acting on impulse.
There is simply no grace within me when I am hurt.
And yet, "He did not retaliate when insulted, He did not threaten to get even when He suffered." (1 Pet 2:23 NLT)
And He, sisters, was BLAMELESS. I am as far from that as I can get.
Lord, thank you for your kindness and your constant example.
"Christ's submission to the Father's omnipotent hand was unwavering" wow. I want that. I want my submission to God's will and ways to be unwavering. I want to respond to people in love like Jesus did. I am so thankful that I heard this message today for I am facing a decision and I need to act in a way that God would want. Thank you so much for sharing this with me today!
Wow, I have such a hard time showing honor and being graceful when I’m hurt. This message really has to sink in today. I watched my dad betray my mom then all of us kids and I reacted in anger. Now my dad and I are estranged and it’s hard to know what to do next. I want to be like Christ in this situation, but I’m not sure what that would look like. Thankfully I have the Holy Spirit to lean on. I appreciate everyone’s honesty today!
Praying, hazelmaddie, that God puts the right way to go on your heart….Blessings dear sister…x
I'm praying for you hazelmaddie. I know that anger and hurt toward our earthly fathers. I don't know the right answers for you, but I have found that just the asking and wondering – "I want to be like Christ in this situation, but I'm not sure what that would look like." – this is the first step. Keep talking to our heavenly Father. He will lead you to the right decisions and words for your earthly father. I struggle with betrayal in my family as well and so I am with you in prayer tonight.
The grace of the Lord has really been awesomely revealed to me over the past few weeks. Today I identify with Judas, often trading the immeasurable riches of the Lord's love for 30 silver coins; trading the everlasting for the shiny, immediate things of this world. I pray that the Lord would always be of more value to me than anything else I seek. And even when I fall short and my selfishness triumphs, he still calls me friend. Such grace.
What a friend we have in Jesus!!!!! A faithful friend is He……that song just came to mind as I read your post…..x x
God is the ultimate example of love. Thank you God for being you, for being so perfect, for loving us the way only you can love, for being an example to us. How great are you lord! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Glory to you lord!
Glory, glory glory….AMEN!!!! Blessings…Gema…x
So incredibly good! To identify with Christ as the betrayed. That is such a powerful thought for me in my current season.. it is a game changer for my attitude. Thank you!!
God please show me how to keep a quiet demeanor when I’ve been wronged. Speaking out against these things only ever hurts me. Show me how to be more like Jesus was in this very situation.
Our betrayals are not usually so outright and on display. They’re usually in words not spoken, broken plans, unanswered calls.. And in these times I’ve acted out on anger and defense. In my quiet betrayals I was loud. In Jesus’s loud betrayal he was quiet. I need to take a lesson from this scenario. Let it apply to me and work in my situations.
I love the core truth of this post. Jesus went willingly. He has the whole power of heaven and the army of angels and he went willingly. And this willingness came out of the deep love he has for his Father who sent the plan in motion (yesterday's scripture study and truth spoke to that.) and for all of us.
But I'm really into knowing the connotation behind the original text words and there is a BIG misunderstanding for the word friend here. In the Greek text there are 2 different words. Philos which means a true friend who seeks the good of others. Jesus uses this term many times to refer to his disciples. However, this passage uses the word hetairos, which translates to one who only projects his own interest, a selfish acquaintance. So the term that would contextually make more sense in this passage could be "selfish colleague, friendly opportunist, or imposter."
I find this even more astounding. God doesn't gloss over our sinfulness; he calls it out into the open. He speaks TRUTH always. And Judas was NO FRIEND. He was a selfish sinful human being. Just as we all are and I love that we can identify with him the betrayer, because it's true. We often our looking out for our own interests. HOWEVER, Jesus still goes quietly. He still chooses to forfeit his life. And in that, I find greater power and more reason to fall on my knees in remembrance of what my Lord gave up for me, the hetairos, the imposter. So that I could have a personal relationship with Him.
Wow! thanks for this great insight.
Jesus even told Peter to put away his sword…the battle belonged to the Lord and He fights differently than we do. Oh praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead!
http://www.hopeinthehealing.com/2014/04/16/put-yo…
The devotion this morning reminded me of Isaiah 53:7 "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth." When something is repeated twice in the Bible, we are supposed to pay close attention. Jesus was betrayed by a close friend, yet He opened not His mouth. Jesus was wrongfully arrested and brought to trial illegally, yet He opened not His mouth. He wouldn't betray us by leaving the world to stew in its sin, even though WE betrayed Him. Just the thought of that alone sparks a deep worship of the Risen Savior. All Hail King Jesus!!
Just amazing! This really ministered to me! Even through my Judas moments, He loves me and still calls me friend. Even though I don't deserve it, He thinks I do!
Great word today ladies! Blessings!
Awesome and powerful words. Thank you.
I'm struck by so many things in this text, but this one seems to be the most poignant.
Jesus says in verse 53 that He can call on His Father and He will 'AT ONCE' put more than 12 legions of Angels at His disposal. 12 legions of Angels at His beckon call. Yet, He chose the Cross.
He chose the Cross.
That, my friend, is just how much He loves us.
That struck me too Janee! He could have disintegrated,vaporized, or simply made the guards disappear in thin air YET He stayed and took our punishment. He made a conscious and well thought out decision to take the route of the Cross. Just thinking about it, causes my adoration to soar. ** I know the Angels were ready to go to bat for Him, can you imagine the spiritual battle that was taking place right above Jesus and the guards in the Garden?
Amen!
This is so hard for me to do. To honor Jesus when I’m mad and hurt, when I’ve been lied to and deceived by a family member. I pray for strength in those moments. Sometimes it feels like a kind of death. But then I remember Jesus and His Truth and instead of dying I live!
Thank You Jesus for Your example and Your Truth. Help me to walk in Your steps and live to share the Truth with others. In Jesus Name! Amen.
Ah, this couldn't have come at a better time… I've betrayed many friends and have been betrayed by many in the past, as we all have. Recently, I've observed many conflicts happening between different people in my life, including my own with a few friends who I wanted to gain distance from, but did not look to God for how to, and hurt them in the process… I am humbled by one of those friends, who has decided to love and forgive me, to not hold it against me, though we may not be friends anymore… how she was like Jesus here, choosing to love me as a friend instead of hate me and want vindication, even in my Judas-like state and when in reality, she's done nothing to ever hurt or betray me. Though the friendship has gone, I have all the love and respect for her in the world. Lord, show me if and how I can apologize for the way I went about things without going back to the friendships. Show me how to LOVE them dearly without wanting anything in return. Show me how to love until it hurts and then more.
"I have found a paradox: If I love until it hurts, then there is no more hurt– only love." Mother Teresa. While there may still be huge pain there, it is eclipsed by the love we decide to have. Jesus, I can only have that with you.
Prayer Request: I have a good friend named Jackie, who although coming from a completely different life than me, is a person whose been placed on my heart to care for and show the love of God to. She has recently been in a huge fight (it got physical) with a few of her old best friends over built up bitterness and embarrassment… right now she is very angry and believes she cannot and will not ever forgive them. Please pray along with me that Jackie would see and know the Love of Christ without mistake, that she'd be embraced by it and would embrace it knowing Christ as her true Lord and Savior, and that in return, she'd seek peace and forgiveness with her friends. Thank you all so much! Praise the Lord for all of you! I love you all, friends, sisters. Have an amazing day.
I can completely relate to your story/situation. Thanks for sharing! And prayers for your friend!
The Mother Teresa quote is heavy on my heart.
Thank you for sharing.
It's one of my favorites, Andie. I pray the Lord would show you love like this today, and that He'd continue to speak through this quote. Blessings, dear friend.
What wondrous love is this, O my soul !
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
How can I NOT want to honor God more than being vindicated? Yet, I do. It is my first response, defend myself, voice righteous indignation. And true to human nature, it is the opposite of being a Christ follower. What does love require of me, today? That was the question posed around the sermon at church this past Sunday. The answer is found in John 13:34,35 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Sometimes I think God may let me feel that hurt, and feel the angst as I realize I must forgive to make me recognize and remember what ALL Christ has done for me. The perspective shifts the view of my heart and I am left with a renewed gratefulness towards my Jesus for loving EVEN me.
This is why I read SRT in addition to my Bible reading. It moves me to places that I've never been — before my awesome, sacrificing, loving Lord!
Thank you Jesus for being the One to turn my eyes to when looking for someone to model and honor.
I stand in awe at how much my Savior loves me.
Awesome devotional this morning!!!!!!!!! And hard to digest at the same time!
Walking through Holy Week with everyone at #SheReadsTruth has kept my feet on the road to and in Jerusalem.
Wow. To love the Lord more than I want to be vindicated. To call my betrayer friend. To love that much. Oh how He loves us – and how He wants us to love Him – and one another.
Yes. Lord, give us the will and the strength to do so. I love that ONLY Jesus can show us how to love Him and Others– that we aren't doing this alone. Praise you, God! For never leaving us.
God is the ultimate example of love, we can only hope to love the way he does. Praying for this daily, for others to see him through me by my actions and the love I give to others.
Man, I love this in Matthew when Jesus rebukes his disciples for drawing weapons and tells them, "Don't you think the Father would send me legions of angels right now if I were to ask?" Such power he had at his fingertips, in a single cry, yet he remained quiet and went willingly . . . . hallelujah, what a savior!
That is the part that impacts me the most. Jesus Christ still having all of this power at his fingertips decides to submit to his destiny just to save us. How great is our God! Glory to him!
What a saviour, what a saviour……I sure could sing of this great love forever and ever and ever…..xxxx
Thanks for a great reflection Raechel and for a sobering reminder. How amazing we have such a merciful Father to call us friend and daughter when we least deserve. I think on all the times where I’ve felt hard done by and wanted to kick up a stink and pray that I would have a Christ like attitude in those situations. Easier said than done and I’m thankful for the Holy Spirit guiding each of us!
Amen Natalie! Holy Spirit, be with us to show us how to love others even when it hurts us, like Jesus! Have a great day, sister.
Truth. Absolute, humbling, heart breaking, loving truth. We are SO incredibly loved sisters! We are Judas. We have each done our share of betrayals. And facing that truth in this moment takes my breath away. Thank you Jesus for the cross! Thank you for your love & mercy & unending compassion! We are undeserving but you love on us anyway. Hallelujah!
Hallelujah Rachel! I think of Judas, how he hated himself afterward and beat himself up to the point of suicide. Filled with so much evil, greed, selfishness, anger, then guilt and condemnation… the enemy really drove him into the ground. Judas departed from the Father, from Jesus, by giving up Jesus for himself, yet both the Father and Jesus looked on him and called him "friend." Wow. It just goes to show how serious our sin is because it gives the enemy a foothold in our lives, and how bent on destruction he is– yet how much bigger and brighter Jesus' love is for us, if only we'd acknowledge and embrace it. We need to– His grace and righteousness are our ONLY defense from satan's schemes! Sorry for all this– it just got me thinking. :) Be blessed, sister!
Hallelujah….praise God….right there with you Rachel….
I spent yesterday, floored, broken, unable to function….I walked around aimlessly….hurting…..convicted…….realising the full extent of Jesus' love for me, mine , you, yours….truth be known, I was in my pjs all day…I truly was in a daze…….
Today, Rachael, you are right, it really is going to get darker before the light comes…….. I'm holding on to psalm 30:5b which says…tears may come in the night ( dark), but joy comes in the morning ( light),….. I realise that the hurts, betrayals, I have had, at others hands, are truly nothing compared to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, this Judas,(me) . …… I bring my betrayals, small they seem now, Lord Jesus, to the cross, I lay them down, leaving them at your feet……. and from deep in my soul I cry…….
“I am truly truly absolutely certain that I want to honor you more than I want to feel vindicated.”
Thank you Lord Jesus that you call me friend….. Thank you for the price you paid with your blood, that covers it all….the betrayals, the hurts, the sins, the lies, the brokenness,….. Thank you Jesus, for this ever so special love that is unique to each and every one of us……Thank you.
Thank you Rachael, Amanda Bible, Sarah, et al, for the opening my eyes and heart, that has bee occurring through these studies…..Our God is truly using you…..praise be to Him who first loved us…..
Blessings and love to each and every one this sunny day, may He turn His face to shine on you….x xxx
Beautiful Tina. "I bring my betrayals, small as they seem now, Lord Jesus, to the cross, I lay them down, leave them at your feet…" I remember feeling so outraged at many betrayals in my life, immediately harboring bitterness towards those who did hurt me, demanding that I'd be vindicated, proven right… and how badly my actions betrayed Jesus in the process, yet He called me friend. Lord, thank you for loving us even when we hate others… thank you for forgiving and carrying us even when we've decided in our hearts to never care for or forgive those who've betrayed us. Lord, change our hearts, that we'd look to you when betrayed, and choose You instead of ( really un)Righteous Anger or Vindication. Be with us today Lord, and let this raw, never-gives-up and never-runs-out, always-persevering Love soak into the soil of our hearts and make us to decide not to give up. Praying for all of our conflicts, that we'd desire God's will to be done in them, not ours.
Gut punch truth here.
Oh so true….this is truth…truth..x
Me too, LIsa-Jo, me too.
I am so with you…..talk about a convicted spirit. It's like this was directed right at me.
"I am certain that I want to honor you more than I want to feel vindicated."
Wow….I need to sit with that for a few hours.
Exactly. Perfectly said. Ugh.