Betrayal

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BETRAYAL

John 13:21-27

21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me."  22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means." 25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" 26 Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

NIV

What do we learn from this conversation between Jesus and his disciples? Should we focus on this question about who is going to betray him? Should we focus on how and when did Satan enter Judas? Should we focus on why would Judas even betray Jesus? Should we focus on the wondering of all the disciples as to who would be the one who would betray him? This might be the point of which all of them were concerned as to who would do such a thing as to betray the Lord. In some sense we could see each of them convinced of their own innocence wanting to know who could possibly betray Jesus. But also in the original language it is stated that each asked “Lord, is it I?” This would carry a slightly different approach to their loss as to which of them he meant. Some translations use this phrase, and some add the word surely or certainly, which is included in the original but is used only in the form of a question. So then we might consider that each of his disciples did in fact ask him if it was him that would betray Jesus. They may well have not been convinced of their own innocence, but wondered if and how could they betray the Lord who they dearly loved. In Matthew’s account it is recorded that even Judas had asked, “Teacher, I am not the one, am I?” Yet Judas had already been to the chief priests and made his bargain with them for the thirty pieces of silver. Was he that deceptive to act all innocent when he was in fact the guilty one? Yet it was not until he received the dipped bread did Satan enter him. So could we believe that he made his deal without Satan? The point here, the lesson here is in our belief of our innocence, is it possible that we could, in some way, betray our lord? Is it possible, even as much as we love him, as did his disciples, that we are not sure if we could betray him? True, we could never do what Judas did, in making it possible for the chief priests to find and arrest Jesus. That was all said and done many years ago, but there is a sense in which we might have the same thoughts as did those disciples regarding if we could do such a thing and how would we do it. How could we betray Jesus? What actions or thoughts we do and have could be considered in some way a betrayal of Jesus? The Greek word translated betray carries the meaning of surrender or giving up which is what in fact Judas did. He surrendered or gave up Jesus to the chief priests. This could imply that we in some way, in what we do, or how we think, give up Jesus, for the sake of our own desires. We certainly love him, and we might wonder how could we do such a thing yet, like Judas, we give him up in order to do what we want to do, instead of doing what he desires us to do. This just might be a betrayal.