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Scripture reading

The Betrayal

Last week Don preached about the Greatest Prayer, this week we are going to turn 180 degrees and learn about the Greatest Betrayer.

I think we have all experienced some form of betrayal in our lives: a private matter hitting the town gossip train, being promised a promotion at work that was given to someone else, letting someone “borrow” an item or money for a “short time” only to see months and years go by without seeing it returned.

Or maybe it was someone you thought was a friend, someone who was supposed to be there for you, to have your back, and when you needed them most they weren’t there.

What makes betrayal, betrayal?

Betrayal doesn’t occur unless there is some expectation of Loyalty.

This person is loyal to me, I’ve been loyal to them, they believe in me like I believe in them, I can trust them, their my friend, my family, they have my best interest at heart, they would never turn their back on me, they would never harm me.

If a stranger you meet on the street does something to harm you, while you may be angry, you won’t consider it betrayal.

They were a stranger, you had no expectation of loyalty and belief.

You don’t know them, they don’t know you.

But, if a friend or family member does something to harm you, that is a different story entirely - that’s betrayal.

It is safe to say there is no shortage of betrayal in this world.

But, all of those betrayals pale in comparison to what Judas does to Jesus.

Judas is worse than the friend who turns their back on you when needed most, Judas doesn’t just turn his back, he actively seeks Jesus’ harm.

John 18 tells us that Judas procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and Pharisees.

Judas is not passive in this betrayal - he goes out and rounds up the posse and actively leads them to Jesus.

While the account of Judas’ betrayal is shocking and stunning, what is probably more shocking and stunning is Jesus’ response - or lack thereof - to Judas’ betrayal.

While I don’t know about you, if I were betrayed like that, I probably would have some unkind things to say to my betrayer.

Matthew 26 has the fullest accounting of Judas’ betrayal.

When Judas greets Jesus calling him “Rabbi” and kisses Him, Jesus doesn’t scold him, doesn’t berate him, Jesus says “Friend, do what you came to do.”

Really?

Jesus calls him “friend?”

Could this be sarcasm?

Possibly, but I don’t think so.

Even in the midst of this betrayal of unbelief, the patience and mercy of Jesus is on display; the believing loyalty of Jesus toward the Father is on full display.

With that, let’s dive into today’s text ...

English Standard Version (Luke 22:47–48)

While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them.

He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

You might ask - Why is this happening?

In Acts, Peter tells us the betrayal had to occur:

Acts 1:16-20; Psalm 69:18-28; Psalm 109:3-8; Is 53:10

Acts 1:16-20 Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry...

For it is written in the Book of Psalms, ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and ‘Let another take his office.’

Here Peter is quoting Psalm 69 and Psalm 109.

Interestingly, in Psalm 69 we see, You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor; my foes are all known to you.

Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair.

I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.

In Psalm 109 we see: “They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.

In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer.

So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

And those two verses remind me of Isaiah 53 that we read a couple weeks ago:

Is 53:10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt...

So, why the betrayal?

Because the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of David, foretold of Judas’ betrayal, and through Isaiah He said it was God’s will.

With all of that, you might be asking yourself,

If God said it was going to happen, then how is Judas to blame?

I’m glad you asked!

This is a legitimate question.

If God decreed this betrayal, then, wouldn’t it seem logical that God should be responsible and not Judas?

Yes, but only yes IF you equate foreknowledge with predestination.

For those who say fore-pre-what?

Stick with me this will make sense

Predestined vs. Foreknowledge

To answer this question we must understand the difference between predestination and foreknowledge.

PREDESTINATION God’s foreordination (predetermining or commanding) of a particular action, destiny, or task.

In other words, predestination means God determines what you are going to do and you have no choice in the matter.

FOREKNOWLEDGE Knowledge of something before it exists or happens.

In this case, God knew Judas was going to betray Jesus beforehand.

(a few hundred years beforehand!)

So...

Just because there is foreknowledge of something, it does not mean it is predestined.

Just because God knew Judas was going to betray Jesus does not mean that Judas was a robot with no free will.

Even though God knew beforehand, Judas freely chose to betray Jesus, and, therefore, is fully responsible for his actions.

While God used Judas’ bad actions for good, neither God nor Satan turned Judas into a robot without free will to choose to do right or wrong.

Even though God foretold of Judas’ betrayal, and even though it was God’s will that Jesus be betrayed, Judas is responsible for his actions.

Also, in Jesus’ response to the religious leaders, we see this Son of Man phrase -

Why did Jesus refer to himself here as the “Son of Man?”

(He uses this term of himself no less than 73 times in the Gospels)

Jesus uses this term to refer to His divinity.

Dan 7:13-14; Ps 80:17-18; Rev 1:12-16; Rev 14:14;

One final note about the betrayal - Why a kiss?

Traditionally in the Graeco-Roman world, an intimate practice such as kissing was reserved only for close family members, often only those of the same gender.

Parents would kiss their children, and married couples would kiss one another.

Proverbs 27:6; Psalm 2:12; 1 Sam 10:1; 1 Peter 5:14;  

Yet, Judas’ kiss conveyed the opposite of the affection, respect and love a kiss signified in that culture.

To paraphrase Jesus, “Judas, would you pretend to be family while betraying God?” OR “Would you treat me like family while betraying me?”

Now that we understand the “what” of the betrayal, let’s take a look at the “why.”

The Confusion

Neither the disciples, nor Judas, nor the religious leaders truly understood, at the time, what was going on.

They did not understand who Jesus was or the plan of God.

It is easy, on this side of history to look at Judas, the disciples and the religious leaders and think, “How could you not understand?!” Jesus said this was going to happen - multiple times.

They had the scriptures, right?

Yes, they did, but they didn’t have the cross yet, they hadn’t seen Jesus tried and flogged, and, most importantly, they hadn’t witnessed the resurrection.

In WWII, one of Germany’s greatest tools was their Enigma Machine.

It was a machine that would take a message and encode it so that, if intercepted, it could not be read.

In order to decipher a message, the receiver had to have the right key to use the right settings to decode the message they received.

Before Jesus, the plan of salvation in the scriptures was largely an enigma.

Without the benefit of Jesus’ life, death, burial and resurrection, you didn’t have the “key” to unlock the meaning of scripture.

Jesus is just like an Enigma Machine decipher key - but for the Old Testament; he is the key for unlocking the clear message hidden in the Old Testament revealing God’s plan for redemption.

Much like Jesus giving the cryptic directions about how to find the house where they would celebrate passover - in order to keep Judas from ruining the Passover meal - on a much larger scale, God gave cryptic directions about the plan of redemption in order to thwart Satan and prevent him from interfering.

(had Satan understood…)

Once you have the key - Jesus - it is very easy to look back at the OT testament and clearly see how plainly God declared what He was doing.

But, if you don’t have Jesus, you will fumble around groping in the dark trying to decipher God’s redemptive plan.

We are going to see some groping around in the dark in these next passages.