Betrayal

Have you ever had a family member / close friend betray you?

How did that make you feel?

It hurt it made you want to seek vengeance. Well tonight we are gonna talk about the betrayal of a close friend that led to murder. Murder that one Man had the power to stop. But he chose not to because He knew the bigger picture. Betrayal can easily knock you off course.

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Point Fingers or Reflect

I am not beating down the disciples right here but just reflecting on what would have been the best response to the statement of Jesus saying “One of you will betray me.” But instead of whispering who is it, they should have been asking is it me.

What does it benefit to whisper about others sins?

Is it me? vs. Who is it?

Everybody automatically assumed it could not be them, but in fact two of them would betray Jesus.

The words of Michael Jackson come to mind:

I'm starting with the man in the mirror I'm asking him to change his ways And no message could have been any clearer If you wanna make the world a better place Take a look at yourself and then make a change

If you want to help others before they mess up, first you got to start with yourself.

And the truly truly statement really should have grabbed their attention. In those times disputes and arguments were not socially acceptable at all at the table. Jesus’ words in this context would have been shocking and attention grabbing. So this served as announcement of Judas’ sin but I think also a warning for Peter.

The words of Christ should bring conviction and reveal to us our tendencies that may lead us to betraying him.

Judas would sell him out for thirty pieces of silver and Peter would deny knowing him three times during the passion events.

Judas from the beginning never truly loved Jesus. Peter was in Jesus’ inward circle.

Peter could have avoided being a betrayer of Jesus if he had asked the simple question of “is it me?”

The words of Matthew 7:1-5 come to mind.

Matthew 7:1–5 ESV

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

It is a natural reaction and quick one often to point fingers at other people when a problem arises. Their is nothing wrong with holding others accountable to scripture as long as we first reflect and evaluate ourselves according to scripture.

In the end we are all capable of betrayal.

What are you doing to avoid being a betrayer?

If we don’t follow the words of Matthew 7 to the point of helping our brother with his speck, then we are betraying our bros and sis in Christ with silence.

A Heart of Betrayal Will Allow Satan Power Over You

Satan did not just convince Judas overnight to be part of a murder scheme. As we have already seen mentioned Judas was stealing from the Jesus fund. So he was not known for being honest. He had been betraying Jesus in “little” ways. The heart of betrayal was around money. So that is what Satan was using to lead Judas further down a dark path. through all the small acts Judas was giving Satan a stronger and stronger foothold. Judas had been ignoring and ignoring Jesus call and now by the end of tonight passage Judas becomes possessed by the devil.

When we betray we become more miserable and the damage continues to intensify.

Satan delights in your betrayal and he watches you to find your week spots and he will use the idols to steadily pull you away to bigger and bigger betrayals to Jesus