Has someone ever betrayed you? It hurts.
I was a betrayer once. A friend confided personal information to me which I then shared with someone else. It was wrong and I shouldn’t have done it.
The dictionary defines betrayal as “delivering to an enemy…” That’s exactly what Judas Iscariot did to Jesus before His death. When I was reading through John 13:18-38 to prepare for Sunday’s message, I found it stunning that Jesus would hand bread to the man He knew would betray Him and Satan entered him (verse 27). It’s almost as if Jesus handed Judas over to Satan! How could God do that?!
But then the new commandment comes…
“…Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” -John 13:34-35
Jesus gave the ultimate example of what it means to love someone like Him. No matter what the person does wrong, we are to love. When we know they may betray us, when in fact they do betray us, we are to love.
I believe Jesus allowed Judas to betray Him so that we know what true love looks like. This record in history is a bit like the “God stories” in our own lives – the times where we don’t understand what is happening, but we figure it out later and see the bigger picture. God weaves together a perfect plan that’s far greater than anything we could ever put together ourselves.
Who has betrayed you? Are you loving them like Jesus loved Judas? I know I have some work to do moving forward while I remain humbled that Jesus washed away my sins at the cross.
