Betrayed Him

And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him.  – Mark 14.10-11

The whole story of the 12 apostles and the inclusion of Judas has always intrigued me. 12 men, normal men, men with frailties and weaknesses and flaws and doubts were chosen to oversee the birth of the church and the spread of God’s word and the carrying of the gospel.

But one of them was not what it seemed. He was the treasurer, the purse-keeper, so there must have been a special amount of trust in him. To Judas was given the charge of the monies. He travelled with the rest from the very start. He has seen the healing and the feedings and the exorcisms and the calming of the sea. He had sat around the fire and heard the stories and the parables and the lessons of the Teacher.

None of these guys really got it – they all ran away when Jesus was arrested. Peter even denied Jesus.

But Judas betrayed Jesus. The conspirators approached the purse-keeper with a bribe. ‘Show us who He is and we will good money. And Judas began to consider how he was going to betray Jesus.

Betrayal is hard. It must be even harder when you know you are going to be betrayed. Jesus knew that, and still chose to serve the betrayer by washing his feet, and then sat down to sup with him.

Loving is not always easy. Love is risky. We don’t know the end result. Sometimes we pour our hearts and love and emotion and time into someone only to be betrayed. It is easy to say ‘I’m not going to do that again, I am tired of being hurt.’ That’s not what Jesus did though. Judas was worth the risk. And because He was betrayed he understand the pain that betrayal brings.