Imagine seeing the truth of the Son of God and choosing to betray Him. After a few years of seeing incredible miracles and hearing words filled with nothing but truth, how much hatred and greed would someone need to surrender Jesus Christ to be executed, knowing what they knew about Him?
The betrayal of Judas is heartbreaking. The rest of Jesus’s close group of disciples wouldn’t fully understand the full reality of who they followed until He returned to Heaven, yet even in their ignorance they understood that Christ was the Holy One of God. Yet despite following the same Jesus as the rest, Judas’s shocking betrayal would soon lead to Christ’s brutal death on the cross.
Yet it was a betrayal that wasn’t shocking to Jesus Christ.
Christ in the Old Testament
Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me. (Psalm 41:9)
In this Psalm, David is in lament. His enemies want him dead and seem to do nothing but plot against him. In this verse, we see that David is even suffering the incredible pain of being betrayed by someone close to him. While there was no reason to assume this was a prophecy about the Messiah, we soon see that the betrayal David experienced would play a critical role in the final days of the Messiah.
Fulfilled in the New Testament
So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.“We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him. (John 6:67-71)
I am not speaking about all of you. I know the ones whom I have chosen; but this is happening so that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ (John 13:18).
While a betrayal against Christ seems unthinkable, Christ was never in the dark about the role Judas would play in God’s plan of redemption. Christ knew He was born to die, and knew that this man He chose to follow Him would be the one to deliver Jesus to those who would soon end His life. Christ even says that Judas’s betrayal would be the fulfillment of the words of David, written so many years ago.
Judas wasn’t the only one to live in denial of who Christ truly was. Once Christ was taken, the rest of the disciples scattered in fear. Yet even though they tried to give up on Christ, He wasn’t willing to give up on them. Christ gave His life for these men, and in time each of them would also give his life for their Savior.
Today, we can see ourselves reflected in the betrayal and denial of those closest to Christ. We also know that Christ is the Son of God and worthy of our lives. Yet just like Judas, we will often choose the things of this world over faithfulness to our God. But despite our wandering hearts, God can still use us in mighty ways just like He did with the other disciples.
Let us be honest with how easily we are drawn away from Christ. With that, let us also repent and look to God with thankfulness, awe, and love at a God who is so patient and forgiving. We never want to abuse God’s endless grace, but we never want to forget that He never stops giving it to those whose sins have been paid for by the blood of His Son.
