THE BITTERNESS OF BETRAYAL
NOTE: This post is taken from my newest book, The Perfect Savior, a forty-day Easter devotional published by Our Daily Bread. Order on Amazon or my website, BarneyCargile.com
While duck hunting on the north end of the Great Salt Lake, a forty-six-year-old man and his dog were drifting in a small boat. Stepping into the marsh, he left his shotgun resting across the boat’s bow. Apparently, the excited dog stepped on the gun, causing it to discharge. His master was shot in the buttocks with twenty-seven pellets of bird shot. Local police are calling the incident an accident, but the dog isn’t talking.
Did the owner feel betrayed when he realized what his dog had done? Hardly. We may chuckle at the irony of man’s best friend shooting his owner, but real-life betrayal is no laughing matter—just as Jesus must have sensed in Judas after Mary of Bethany anointed him. While the perfume’s aroma wafted through the room, the stench of betrayal filled Judas’s heart. Immediately after the meal, “Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them” (Mark 14:10).
Scripture doesn’t say why Judas did such a diabolical deed. But consider this: Judas believed Jesus was the Messiah. He’d witnessed him walk on water, calm storms, and raise the dead. Judas was poised for a prominent position in Christ’s new administration. But Jesus was moving slowly. Perhaps Judas decided to force his hand. He would betray his Lord; Jesus would establish his kingdom; then Judas would slip back into Jesus’s good grace and, in the process, pocket a bit on coinage.
Scripture points to this. Matthew writes, “When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver” (27:3). Judas was sorrowful until Jesus was condemned because he didn’t believe Jesus would die. But regardless of his motive, only a man with a heart as hard as a hammer would sell out his best friend.
Betrayal wasn’t necessary for Jesus to save us. So why did he deliberately choose as his disciple someone he knew would betray him? (See John 6:70-71.) Because we all experience the bitterness of betrayal. A spouse is unfaithful. A friend gossips. A child rejects our values. When we cry out to God during this gut-wrenching anguish, we have someone in heaven who understands. A friend turned away from him, turned his back on him, and turned him over to his enemies. No pain is more potent. No hurt as horrible. Jesus knows how you feel because God himself experienced the bitterness of betrayal.
Principle: Jesus understand how we feel when we are betrayed because he also experienced betrayal.
Ponder:
When have you experienced the bitterness of betrayal?
How can looking to Jesus help you move past it?
Pursue: For a deeper dive, study Matthew 27:1-10.
Jesus, during times of betrayal, help me look to you for comfort and find the strength I need.
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