Easter 2012 Part 2

Betrayal is having someone that you have counted on and have put an emotional investment in, turn on you and disregard both what is right, and your feelings personally.

Unfortunately, betrayal is a painful characteristic of the fallen human race.

In Matt.24:10, Jesus warns that in the last days betrayal will be particularly widespread: “…many will be offended, will BETRAY one another, and will hate one another.”

There is no pain quite as acute as the pain of betrayal—especially at the hands of someone that has been close to you, as Judas had been to Jesus.

Have you ever been betrayed?

How many times has someone pretended to love you, but wound up turning and deliberately hurt you?

David understood this kind of betrayal-induced pain and wrote about it in Ps.55.

He is speaking to his lifelong adviser, Ahithophel.

It was Ahithophel who had joined hands with David’s son, Absalom, to literally steal the kingdom away from David and assassinate him at the same time. David writes:

“I would be able to take it if one who hates me were putting me to shame. I could hide from him. It is not one who hates me who has put himself up against me. 13 But it is you, a man like myself, one who has gone with me, my close friend. 14 We shared together. And we walked with the people in the house of God” (Ps.55:12-14).

It’s easy to hear the pain in David’s voice as he tries to come to grips with the fact that it was a close friend, a confidant, one with whom he had shared the good things of God, one who he’d gone to church with, that had betrayed him.

Jesus experienced the very same thing with Judas.

Judas had seen the miracles of Jesus, had traveled with Him for three years, had heard His profound teachings, had observed firsthand His flawless lifestyle, had been cared for by Him, loved by Him, and protected by Him; and yet…Judas betrayed him.

There were several things about Judas’ betrayal that had to have been particularly painful to Jesus:

He sold Jesus out for money: “Judas went to the religious leaders of the Jews. 15 He said, “What will you pay me if I hand Jesus over to you?” They promised to pay him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From that time on Judas looked for a way to hand Jesus over to them.”

30 pieces of silver in today’s market is worth around $950.

So after all the time spent with Jesus, He was worth $950 to Judas.

In the O.T. this was the price of a slave gored to death by an ox. (Ex.21:32)

He would later hurl this blood money into the temple in horror that his betrayal had led to Jesus being crucified.

SECOND, Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss.

Scripture records, “The man who handed Jesus over gave the soldiers something to look for. He said to them, “The One I kiss is the One you want. Take Him!” (Matt.26:48)

A kiss in N.T. times was a token of allegiance and friendship.

And interestingly, there are several words for “Kiss” in the N.T.

The word used here is the word for “intimate friendship.”

Judas’ kiss was cruel, a mockery of the close friendship He had shown to Judas.

One commentator writes, “How coolly deliberate. How diabolically malicious was Judas!”

Another commentator writes,

“Judas tenderly kissed him - he kissed him, as was the custom, on one cheek, then the other - still pretending the most affectionate friendship.”

Nine-hundred fifty dollars and a mocking kiss from a close friend comprised the betrayal of Jesus.

So revolting and sinister was this kiss of betrayal from Judas that the phrase “The Judas Kiss” was born to describe betrayals forever more.

The question for us today is, How do you live after a Judas kiss?

How do you move forward?

How can you remain free of bitterness?

Let’s look at what we must do be healed and move on!

First, we must realize that:

God already saw it coming

In Jesus’ case, God knew from the foundation of the world that Judas would betray Him!

And He knows what’s coming your way as well—good and bad.

The Prophet Zechariah predicted that Jesus would be sold out for $950!

“Then I addressed them: "Pay me what you think I'm worth." They paid me an insulting sum, counting out thirty silver coins” (11:12).

And God also predicted Judas would throw the money back at the religious leaders in the temple:

“And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—this stingy sum at which they valued me! So I took the thirty coins and threw them to the potter in the Temple of the LORD” (11:13).

Judas did just that!

King David also prophesied of Jesus’ betrayal:

“Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me” (Ps.41:9).

So the Lord knew full well what was coming and faced it knowing that God had everything under control.

And God is in your future right now!

He already knows what’s coming, what others will do to you, and has provided grace for your midnight hour.

HERE, THEN, IS AN IMPORTANT TRUTH:

God doesn’t always shield us from painful events, but He does provide grace that we might walk through them.

If He always shielded us from trouble, we’d never have a testimony of His power to heal and deliver!

The Bible promises:

Heb. 2:18 “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Heb. 4:14-16 “So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.”

Jesus experienced the deep sting of betrayal, so He understands our pain, and can help us get through it.

Secondly, The Bible tells us to:

Break toward God, not away from Him in our pain.

Don’t fall away from God in your pain and disillusionment, fall toward God.

The Bible says:

Heb. 4:16 “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

We all have a choice following betrayal—to grow bitter, or to grow better.

The Bible promises that GRACE is there for us, but we must respond to it.

Listen to this powerful verse of warning:

Heb. 12:15 “Look after each other so that none of you FAILS TO RECEIVE THE GRACE OF GOD. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.”

If we reject God’s grace to help us handle the situation, bitterness lurks just around the corner.

Following betrayal, BITTERNESS will knock on the front door of your spiritual house and say:

“You have a right to angry!

They don’t deserve your forgiveness!

Let me in to your house and we will stew on this together!”

But GRACE also knocks on the door and says:

“Let ME in instead.

You have a future and hope.

God has new and great things for you.

I will help you to forgive and move on.”

So FIRST, we must realize God knew it was coming and has provided grace for victory.

SECOND, our part is to respond to God’s grace.

And THIRDLY, we have:

AWESOME PROMISES of God’s healing if we choose to respond to Grace.

Psalms 143:7 “he heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.”

Psalms 37: 18-19 “the righteous cry, and the lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. the lord is near those that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit. many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the lord delivers him out of them all.”

Luke 4:18 “the spirit of the lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted…to set at liberty them that are bruised,”

In closing, I want you to notice that we can hear in JESUS’ RESPONSE to Judas that He stayed free of all bitterness:

“Friend, do what you came to do.”

Not, “You devil! You betrayer! After all I’ve done for you!”

No…HELLO FRIEND

He knew Judas’ fate.

Jesus had once said:

Matt. 26:24 “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 better for that man if he had never been born!”

INVITATION:

Is your heart broken?

Have you been wounded by giving and giving, only to have the very one you gave to betray you?