Jesus Knows Betrayal

Text: Luke 22:47-65

Two betrayals in one night--talk about having trouble with faithful friends. The first was overt; the second was betrayal by denial. Both had been predicted by Jesus himself.

In the words of an old gospel hymn, "He bore our sins and our sorrows; he made them his very own." Yes, our sorrows, of many hues of faded color. Sorrows inevitably find their way into our lives, usually uninvited, always at inopportune moments; sometimes they stay but a while, but others threaten to take up permanent residence, with the capacity to destroy a life.

The feeling of betrayal is a particularly intense form of sorrow for many people. It goes a step beyond abandonment, in that someone not only deprives us of their expected presence, but actively, deliberately contributes to our harm. For those who have been made to walk its path, betrayal opens the way to bitterness, skepticism, and an inability to trust, which has the further result of closing one's mind and spirit, trapping all manor of thoughts within.

From the side of the betrayer, there is the possibility of shame, guilt, remorse, and withdrawal. Often, the guilty party recognizes the terrible nature of what has been done, but the shame is so heavy there is insufficient strength to face the betrayed to seek forgiveness. So many times, both lives are seriously fractured.

The one thing we cannot say to Christ is, "You don't know what it's like." And because he does know what it's like he was, in all his suffering, made to be perfectly fitting to be our advocate a well as our example. He is also there with an invitation to restoration when we are the guilty party. Both Judas and Peter were told before their acts were committed what would take place. To Peter he even gave a signal to listen for; and when he heard it, it was the sound of grace, inviting him to repentance even in the moment of his sin. The question to consider today is who in our lives may need to know the sound of grace from us? How will we let them hear it?