The Betrayer and the Betrayed

 

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’ ” So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.

When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”

Betrayal. There is nothing more terrible than betrayal. There are no words to describe the pain, especially when we are betrayed by someone whom we love. I went through this a couple of times in my life, one when I was young, one much later, and they broke me. Not only did my heart shatter into a million pieces, even my mind fragmented, and were it not for the grace of God I’d be six feet under now. I am pretty sure many of you will identify with what I am saying.

So, what does one do? Because the ramifications of betrayal are many. There is disillusionment; a crushing of hopes that makes one never want to dream again. There is sadness; a deep, pain that penetrates to the very depths of the soul, seemingly without end. There is anger; a terrible anger that often manifests itself in savage ways. There is suspicion; a distrust of all people who come your way after the fact. You feel you will never be same again. 

You know what: you won’t. Because betrayal changes you fundamentally. However, this need not be for the worse, but for the better. How, you ask? By putting yourself in Judas’ shoes for a little while. Why? Because although we have been betrayed by people, we too have betrayed people – and broken hearts, crushed spirits, and even destroyed lives as a result. Is that not true? We are all Judases.

And we have also betrayed Jesus, often for less than thirty pieces of silver. Think about the last time we sold him out, probably for one wild party, or a one-night stand. And if you want to know how Jesus feels when we do that, just think of how you felt when you were betrayed by somebody that you loved and trusted. This understanding is what eventually got me through the pain, and helped me to replace the anger with love. 

There is one more thing to learn being in the shoes of Judas. We don’t like to admit that we are wrong, that somehow the fault lay in us. So, we rewrite events and situations, making it seem like the other person is to blame for whatever led to the betrayal. That’s what Judas tried to do. He rationalized his betrayal, thus downplaying the need for repentance, or the need to make amends. It ate into him so much that eventually he went and hanged himself.

Let’s not make his mistake.