Betrayed But Not Bitter


In our text this morning in John 13 deals with the issue of betrayal. With a kiss, Judas betrayed Jesus. The thing that makes betrayal so painful is that by its very nature it comes from someone you trust, someone you believe in and have confidence in. In fact, what I have learned is the closer you are to the person who betrays you the more painful it is. David wrote in Psalm 55:12-14 “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; if it was them then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me, who has exalted himself against me; because if it is was them, then I could hide from him. 13But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance. 14. We took sweet counsel together, And walked to the house of God in the throng.” The Revised Standard Version transforms it like this, that, we used to hold sweet converse together; within God’s house and we walked in fellowship together. It was you that I sat in Sunday school with, it was you that I song in the choir with, it was you that I partook in communion with that betrayed me.

?When deceit and betrayal hit you from an unexpected source it hurts a lot. Look at this, Jesus had invested Himself in Judas. Jesus had trusted Judas with the treasury. And Judas stabbed Him in the back and twisted the handle.

What I have learned is that it is not easy to walk through a betrayal without a scratch. And here’s a nugget. You can’t go through the press without some pain, some discomfort, some aching, some hurt, and some displeasures. Write this down, you cannot receive the anointing without going through some discomforts. You can’t show me an olive that has had oil extracted from it without the olive being bruised, broken, battered, shattered, smashed, damaged and destroyed. And some of you are wondering why you have been so hurt, upset, wounded, and injured, it because the only way that you can receive that type of oil on and in your life you must be betrayed, but not bitter for the greater used of what God has for you. The olive has been crushed, stepped on and damage, but not the oil that was on the inside, that is being used to pray for people, and anoint people. The olive might have been betrayed, but look at it now.  

This morning we want to look at betrayal from two perspectives. First, we want to look into the life of Judas and gain some insight on what causes a person to betray. Possibly this can help us spot a potential problem before it develops in a relationship that you are in. This can help us guard our own hearts so that we do not become the one who betrays another.

Second, we want to look at Jesus’ response to Judas’ betrayal so that we can follow His example when this sort of thing happens to us. First, what was going on in Judas that led to this betrayal? What are some common dynamics that lead to such a betrayal. Judas most likely entered into this relationship with a Self-serving Agenda. John tells us that Judas was a thief. Here is a man who lived very close to Jesus. He ate with Jesus. He carried the moneybag for the team. He was trusted by everyone. No one seems to have questioned the decision to put Judas in charge of the money. Even later when Jesus talked about the pending betrayal, the disciples did not know it was Judas. They were asking the question, Lord is it I?

Did Jesus know that Judas was that kind of man when He chose him to be one of the disciples? That’s not an easy question to answer. Some would say, of course, Jesus is God. He knows everything. Certainly the Father knew Judas heart when he was chosen. Obviously, Judas’ problem with greed was well hidden for a long time. However, occasionally his bad side would manifest and show up at times. For example, when Mary lavished Jesus feet with the expensive ointment, Judas got upset and criticized her for wasting the money. Listen to how his reasoning sounded. John 12:5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor. In hindsight John later tells us in his gospel that Judas was not really saying this because he cared for the poor, but he said it because he was a thief, and would take part of the money for himself.

Judas is a man who saw the glory of God, like few people see it. Yet all the while he was hardening his heart against God and he was becoming a devil. Think about this for a moment. Judas saw Jesus heal the sick, cleanse lepers, open blind eyes, and even raise the dead. In fact, Judas himself was used of God in these type miracles. He is specifically listed in Matthew 10 as one of the twelve sent out by Jesus to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons, and to preach the kingdom of God. How can a person be used of God in that way and ultimately end up as a betrayer of Jesus? Now I don’t think it just happened overnight. I think there was a process involved. His theft probably started out small, and grew. Maybe at first he was just paying himself a little for doing the extra job others weren’t doing: keeping track of the money, giving him the benefit of doubt maybe he had some unexpected debts come in and he needed to borrow a few dollars and it just got out of hand, or maybe it was just because he was a thief and couldn’t help himself. Either or in the atmosphere of God he had every opportunity to confess his fault to Jesus and ask for forgiveness. Perhaps he came close to doing that.