That person sitting there across from me was crushed,
broken, beyond tears with a sorrow so heavy you could feel it in the room. Was
it death or sickness? No, it was betrayal! His spouse walked out of
the home to be with another love, abandoning the family. Who has not experienced a friend’s treachery,
a colleague’s rejection, a failure of a relationship? I know personally that ache that follows the failure
of a relationship. How many millions have wondered, “How could he do that to
me? Why did my friend walk away?”
Jesus, as He faced the anguish of the Cross, also suffered betrayal!
At the Passover meal, the night of His arrest, John tells us the story. "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.” His disciples stared at one another,
at a loss to know which of them he meant." (John 13:21-22, NIV) It hurt the Lord to know that a man close to
Him, one of the Twelve, was planning to sell Him to those who would crucify
Him. He was ‘troubled in spirit.’ We have an image of a serene Jesus, living in
perpetual calm, but He was fully human and in truth He knew the same kinds of
emotions that we feel. That night He felt the terrible loss of betrayal!
Let me turn this thought in two directions. The first is
obvious.
Are you faithful to the Lord?
Is your aim to love Him, serve Him, and live for Him – through it all? A hundred
temptations would pull us away, inviting us to turn away. “Not me,” you may say. I wish we could be so confident in ourselves.
We need the strength of the Spirit to remain faithful. Sometimes spiritual betrayal is not full
abandonment of all things godly.
Sometimes it is like that of the Laodiceans of
the letter called Revelations. "Write
to Laodicea, to the Angel of the church. God’s Yes, the Faithful and Accurate
Witness, the First of God’s creation, says: “I know you inside and out, and
find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be
either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re
stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I
need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind
beggar, threadbare and homeless." (Revelation 3:14-17, The
Message) Yes, we can betray Jesus by
just letting our zeal die, replacing passion with dutiful religion.
Now, let’s make it personal.
Are you struggling with betrayal? Has a spouse left you, a friend
forsaken you, a colleague failed? Will you choose to forgive? Jesus was direct in His words about it. Unless
we forgive others, we cannot find the full forgiveness of God! Hard, isn’t
it? In the prayer He taught His
disciples we say, “Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Will we make that prayer a reality? When we are betrayed, it is human to want to
exact a price, to make the other person see their perfidy! But, revenge is not the
way of the godly. We hand the debt to
God who judges. We let it go, for Jesus’ sake and we find His peace.
Said General
Oglethorpe to Wesley, “I never forgive.”
“Then I hope, sir,” said Wesley,
“you never sin.”
As much as we
might hate to admit it, we have all failed – God, family, friends – at one time
or another. May He give us the grace to offer the forgiveness that we will most
certainly need.
There is this assurance. Live in this word from the Word
today. We are secure, made whole, confident for eternity in the promise.
God has said,
“Never will I leave
you;
never will I forsake
you.”
So we say with
confidence,
“The Lord is my
helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to
me?” (Heb 13:5-6)
____________
(worship and find renewal with this song)
Higher than the
mountains that I face
Stronger than the
power of the grave
Constant in the trial
and the change
One thing remains
One thing remains
Your love
Your love
Your love will never change
Your love
Your love will never change
Your love never fails
It never gives up
Never runs out on me
Your love
On and on and on and
on it goes
It overwhelms and
satisfies my soul
And I never ever have
to be afraid
One thing remains
One thing remains
In death in life I'm
confident and
Cover'd by the power
of Your great love
My debt is paid
there's nothing that
Can separate my heart
from Your great love
Your love
Brian Johnson | Christa Black Gifford | Jeremy Riddle
© 2010 ChristaJoy Music Publishing (Admin. by Bethel Music
Publishing)
Mercy / Vineyard Publishing (Admin. by Vineyard Music USA)
Bethel Music Publishing
CCLI License # 810055
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