Today’s Passage:
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Reflection
Thoughts from the passage
Betrayed by one of His own. By a disciple. By a close friend. By someone who had been with Him almost daily for 3 years. Whom He had handpicked to be an apostle. One of the twelve who had seen more and heard more and experienced more of Jesus and the Kingdom than anyone else. Who had been entrusted with telling people that the Kingdom was near and had even performed miracles in Jesus name when the twelve were sent out. Who had walked beside Him, sat around the campfire with Him, talked with Him every day, and been with Him every step of the way. Betrayed by one of His own.
Reflect
Turned against. Abandoned. Let down. Betrayed. In words or actions. In small ways or great. Once off or continuously. By someone we trusted. Almost everyone has been there. For some it may be something recent, for others it may be a distant memory that still stings.
From your own life, in the picture frames above, who would be “The Betrayed” and who would be “The Betrayer?”
Psalm 55 is a psalm about betrayal. Maybe some of these verses came to Jesus’ mind.
David is the psalmist and he knew what it was to be The Betrayer and The Betrayed. He betrayed one of his soldiers, Uriah, when he arranged to have him killed to try cover up his affair with Bathsheba. Years later David was betrayed by his own son, Absalom and his counselor, Ahitophel, who joined Absolam to conspire against him.
But David knew where to turn. He called out to God. When he had betrayed, he honestly confessed to God (Psalm 51) and received forgiveness and grace from his Father, although there were still consequences. When he was betrayed He also turned to God and was comforted by the knowledge that the Lord heard him and would rescue him.
God not only wants to heal us, He also wants to rescue us from the all the ways that betrayal can affect us. The anger and hurt that festers; the bitterness which deepens every day. The desire for revenge which can well up and cause us to retaliate in some way. The unforgiveness we want to hold onto which can remain with us for years, and the erosion of trust that causes us to hold back from trusting others. God wants to bring us to a place of wholeness.
Response
Jesus has experienced the pain of betrayal and He will meet you when you call to Him. He will walk the journey with you towards wholeness.