Betrayal

Betrayal

March 27, 2013

Wednesday of Holy Week

By Colleen O'Sullivan

I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.  (Isaiah 50:6)

Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak, I looked for sympathy, but there was none; For consolers, not one could I find.  (Psalm 69:21)

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?”  They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over… When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve.  And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”  Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?”  (Matthew 26:14-16, 20-22)

Piety

O Lord, Lover of our souls, you ask only that we remain faithful, that we keep you company while you pray, that we stand by you in your hours of pain and death.  Yet, that proves too much for us.  Forgive us our weakness, our cowardice, and our betrayals of your love for us.

Study

Why did Judas do it?  What possessed him to sell out his friend to the chief priests?  Was he angry at Jesus for some imagined slight?  Was it really for the 30 pieces of silver?  Was he that greedy for money?  Or did he perhaps hope to get on the good side of the religious establishment?

Why do we do it?  Because this isn’t just about Judas; this is a story about each of us.  The disciples knew that.  When Jesus told them that one of them would betray him, every last one of them wondered if Jesus was referring to him.  Were we sitting at the table at that last meal with our friend and Savior, we’d be wondering the very same thing, squirming in our seats with thoughts of our personal acts of betrayal assailing us.

We promise to follow Jesus, but we have trouble keeping our word.  Like the prodigal son, some of us wander far off the path and get caught up in things we shouldn’t.  Like his older brother, others of us fail to be grateful for the everyday blessings that are ours from God.  Unlike the father in the parable, however, we aren’t always overflowing with love.  God may be waiting for us with open arms, even running to meet us, but we don’t always forgive each other with such loving generosity.

Action

It was to save us from all of our betrayals that Jesus died on the Cross.  As we move through Holy Week, search your hearts.  Root out the things that are not of God.  Pray for forgiveness as you place them at the foot of the Cross.