He replied, “One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me. For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!” Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?” And Jesus told him, “You have said it.” (Matthew 26:23-25)
I originally thought of the disciples (notably Peter) when I posed this label, but here I’m going back to a more specific friend: Judas. A friend? Ever used that label in relation to Judas with Jesus? He was a disciple—certainly all of those guys were his friends, right? I mean Peter betrayed him (or denied him, I guess is the right word in English and the one that hits home). Judas’ betrayal actually was the action that turned him over to the authorities. I’ll go out on a limb and say Jesus and Judas were friends. After all, Judas was in the inner circle of 12 who traveled with Jesus and who had full access to Him. He was part of the group about whom Jesus said, “I no longer call you servants, but friends.” Jesus chose him—though he knew what this friend, this disciple, this chosen one would do.
So the road to the cross included betrayal by friends. How could that happen? Where did Judas go wrong? Talk about love of money as a root of all evil. Is there anything more evil than betraying the Son of Man to sinners? The Son of God turned over to worthless Roman scoundrels? The cross activates this betrayal—and it’s not pretty. (“Lord, keep us from such stupidity.”) It doesn’t seem like Judas knew the extent of what he was doing, nor that he had thought through the outcomes! Maybe he thought Jesus would get out of whatever he would get into! He had watched him escape through the crowd. Multiply food. Heal lepers, raise the dead. I bet I can take the money and run, and Jesus will just be “alright with me”, as the Dooby brothers would later popularize the thought in song.
A friend who betrays is not a friend. Their friendship is over. The logical relationship would be more easily described in conversation as “I used to have this friend, but he turned against me, and I don’t know what happened to him…” But we don’t have any record that Jesus ever lashed out at Judas. No record that he berated him in front of the Romans. In fact, his quiet words to Judas were, “Whatever you do, do quickly.” Jesus also said to him in front of the Roman guard who captured him, “Judas, you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” As hard as it must have been to internalize and accept the reality that one of his disciples would betray him to those who would kill him, we have no record of Jesus saying that his love for Judas stopped.
Not even a betraying friend could keep Jesus from his mission and purpose. In fact, it seems the betraying friend was right in the center of both.
“Father, keep us from betrayal—in every form—of our Lord Jesus.”
Copyright 2019, Freddy Boswell. From the book, Torn Curtain.
Freddy Boswell 