March 1, 2023 Text: John 13:21-30
Dear Friends in Christ,
King David’s life was filled with more drama than Game of Thrones. One of his confidants was his nephew Joab. Joab was fiercely loyal to David when he sent Uriah to the front to be killed so that David could marry Bathsheba. This loyalty took a U-turn when Joab backed Adonijah instead of Solomon to succeed David as king. David lamented betrayal when he wrote in Psalm 41, “Even my close friend, someone I trusted, who shared my bread, has turned against me.”
Is there anything that hurts more than betrayal? We might expect office politics or someone to slam the door when canvassing the neighborhood, but we expect loyalty from our friends. That is why they are our friends. If a friend shares a secret, manipulates a situation or steals a spouse, the betrayal burns like the sun.
David wasn’t the first person to be betrayed and he won’t be the last. Like Joab, Judas was close to Jesus. He was part of the inner circle. He broke bread with Jesus. . . and Judas lifted up his . . .
“HANDS OF BETRAYAL”
Since the 1940’s nobody names their child Adolph. Since biblical times nobody names their kid Judas. Was Judas instinctively evil from the womb? Why would he do this to Jesus? He was evil from the womb but just like we are, and Andrew was or Philip was. Jesus called 12 sinful men to follow and to serve.
We know from earlier in the Book of John that Judas was a thief. As the keeper of the money bag, he took for himself instead of giving the money to the poor.
This love of money was just what Satan needed to get him to change teams. “You’ve already stolen, how about 30 pieces of silver to hand over Jesus?” His greed unrepented and unchecked corroded his soul over time, and eventually put Judas’ betraying hands at the table.
Betrayal hurts because it is personal. Judas’ double life even fooled the other eleven disciples. They didn’t see the greedy darkness in his heart. But Jesus knew. “One of you is going to betray me.”
For many of us when we get together for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we check our baggage at the door. No politics, no news that we might see differently. Husband and wife put on the happy face even if a fight occurred the night before. Siblings clean up their act. There are certain expectations, and it is a celebration after all. Jesus is with his disciples having a celebration. His accusation of a betrayer brings tension. These men get defensive. They deny. They deflect.
My family has seen this tension. People fought and stormed off to their rooms. There was silence. Nobody knew what to do. Our family of four will never forget that incident. It made everything uncomfortable.
That is what the disciples experienced. Tension. Uncomfortable. In Matthew it says they “stared at one another.” Jesus gave no names. He gave only a clue – “One of you will betray me.” That set off all kinds of thoughts. “Is it me?” “What does he see in my heart?” “Am I capable of this?”
Well, are you? What secret sins are you hiding? Ever sold-out Jesus for money? Is there something unrepentant in your life that it is corroding your soul? Greed? What is the devil waving in your face? We are all capable of any sin, if left unchecked or unaddressed.
As the accusation hung in the air, they are all scrambling to avoid blame. Peter wants John to ask Jesus who He is talking about. “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread, when I have dipped it.” Jesus had exercised pastoral care with Judas throughout these three years. Now He is trying to jar his conscience by calling him out publicly. He is trying to encourage repentance in Judas. It is too late. The public shame will not change his heart. His hands except the morsel and the betrayal is set.
Judas would go ahead and identify Jesus with a kiss. It must have hurt. Jesus went to the cross and uttered these words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” God treated Christ as though He had committed Judas betrayal, as though He had turned traitor like Joab. God banished Christ to suffer hell’s punishment for our greed, our self-righteousness, and for every secret sin we insist on hiding. They have been punished in full. They have been paid in full. “By his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
How could Jesus love Judas? Well, He did love him and did forgive him. Judas thought Jesus would return the betrayal. In an act of unbelieving despair, Judas took his own life. The Gospel teaches that God doesn’t betray sinners; instead He turned His back on His Son. He reconciled the world. Banish the thought that God will banish us for our sins, and don’t let Satan or anyone else convince you otherwise. God made peace with man in Christ. Ask not how God could love and forgive a traitor like Judas. Ask “How could God love and forgive a traitor like me?” In Christ alone.
Amen.