Mar. 28 – Jesus: The Betrayed
READ John
13:21-38
18:15-18; 25-27
The year was 1779. He was a loyal patriot, a prosperous businessman, a natural leader and an obvious choice to be captain of the Connecticut State Militia.
He proved to be a good military leader. He joined Montgomery in the attack on Quebec. Other victories followed. He received much praise and acclaim, but when Congress created five new generalships he was passed over for political reasons.
It was only the urging of his good friend, General George Washington that kept him from resigning his commission. And though he stayed on in his role, he was never able to recover from this slight against him.
In time he would become commander of West Point. But still resentful and seeing an opportunity he made a deal with the British. He would deliver West Point into their hands. The price for his betrayal was 20,000 pounds sterling (1 million today). Half if he failed.
And fail, he did. His British contact was captured by the Americans, who then discovered the plot. He however, escaped aboard a British ship named the vulture.
Perhaps by now you’ve figured out who I’m talking about. And when Benedict Arnold made his betrayal, it not only struck at the heart of the American forces, but it struck even deeper at the heart of his close friend, George Washington.
History records that when General Washington learned of the Betrayal he at first showed no emotion. He sent Alexander Hamilton off with a detachment of soldiers to try to intercept Arnold. He ordered his staff to defend the fort.
And then taking only his confidant Lafayette with him, he left the room. And out of sight and earshot of others he finally vented his emotion. Lafayette said Washington threw his arms around Lafayette’s neck and began to weep. Lafayette said it was the only moment in the entire war when he witnessed Washington weeping.
Why did he weep? Because he had been betrayed. He had completely trusted a friend and that friend had failed him. And I’m sure that Arnold felt justified in selling out his country. He owed it to himself. If Congress wouldn’t put him on top, he’d have to get there by himself. People always have an excuse for their betrayal.
I’m sure Judas felt many of the same feelings during his betrayal. And Peter did likewise in his denials. And whether it was 20,000 pounds, or 30 pieces of silver or simply denying in order to live another day, it was the same focus on self that brought about the betrayal.
And betrayal always hurts.
Have you felt the emotions when someone does you wrong?
Let me give you some phrases to explain what were talking about this morning.
"I trusted him, and he had an affair."
"My mother-in-law has been trying to tear us apart for years."
"She used to be my friend, but then she spread gossip about me all over town."
"He lied about me and hurt my business."
"He promised to pay me back and never did."
And things like that happen in life. And if it’s not dealt with, the result is resentment. And we’re the ones who will bear the pain of it.
Proverbs 17:22 – “A joyful heart is good medicine (literal – causes good healing) but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”
But people don’t understand – and they let themselves be consumed by resentment and a lack of forgiveness. You can cover it over, convince yourself it doesn’t matter, but still it hurts because we’ve never let go.
BLANK
Fredriche Nietzsche was born in 1844. He was a philosopher who wrote a number of books. He was quite a character. In his autobiography he had chapters entitled, "Why I am so Wise" "Why I am so clever" and another chapter entitled, "Why I write such good books."
But for all his downfalls he did make one statement that I agree with, he said "Nothing on earth consumes a person like resentment."
And while I can’t control what people do, what they say, how they betray me. I can control my response, and my emotions, and my anger and my willingness to forgive and restore.
Someone said we’re most like beasts when we kill. We’re most like men when we judge. But we’re most like God when we forgive. And yet the question is how do I do it? When individuals in our lives do us wrong, how do we find the strength to forgive them?
Well let me tell you this morning that we’re not alone in looking for that answer. We’re not alone in feeling the sting of betrayal and facing those that need forgiven. Jesus had people like that in his life as well, and how he dealt with it can help us learn how to forgive and how to go on.
Well, let me explain the stage a little more. Here are Jesus and his disciples. It’s the last week of his life. The 13 of them are eating the Passover meal and it’s a tense time. Jesus enemies were everywhere. And as the meal neared its conclusion Jesus did something very unpredictable. He predicted his betrayal. Now all the disciples heard Jesus say, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me." And nobody could believe it would be him. A careful reading of the text shows that each went around the table stating, “Surely it is not I.” Pride makes it difficult to admit our failures.
I heard the story of three guys that were hiking in the woods. They came to a raging river. Not sure what to do next the first guy looked to the heavens and said, “God please make me strong enough to get across this river.” Poof he had big strong arms and legs and he jumped in and began swimming. Two hours later after a fierce struggle he made it to the other shore.
The second guy seeing that looked to the heavens and said, “Dear God give me enough tools to cross this river.” Poof he was given a rowboat. An hour later after nearly capsizing he made it to the other shore.
The third guy said, “Dear God please make me smart enough to cross this river.” Poof God made him a woman…..and then he looked at the map, walked five minutes upstream and crossed the bridge.”
Well men have been accused of letting their pride keep them from looking at directions, but really all of us have pride that keeps us from admitting our faults or failures and that’s exactly what was happening at this meal.
Peter seems to have the most pride emphasizing that should all others fall away, he alone would remain true. And Jesus presents him with the truth that that very night he would deny Jesus three times and as we read in John 18 Peter did go on to deny.
Now Peter denied because he was fearful for his own life and lied to give himself an escape from danger. Judas betrayed simply out of greed. John 12:6 records that Judas had made a habit of stealing from the money bag. And we see it in his words in Mat. 26, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" What’s a betrayal worth these days?
And maybe what disturbs people the most about these betrayals is that if forces us to ask ourselves the question, "Would I?" Judas did it for money. Peter did it for fear. What it would take to get me to turn?
If somebody offered you a ten million dollars to never come to church again. Would you do it? If you were told to renounce the name of Christ or face certain death, would you turn on him? If God tested you by taking everything from you, would you still remain faithful?
And it’s troubling because we really don’t know until were there. Peter had all the confidence in the world before the situation arose. But when he was in it, the preservation of self became most important.
But each betrayal hurt in its own right and yet somehow, somewhere Jesus found the strength to not only forgive but in Peter’s case to even restore. And I’m sure he would have done the same for Judas had he but sought that forgiveness.
Ray Hildebrand is a singer. In a song called "All he ever wants. He writes.
I still believe that Judas would be walking streets of gold
and talking with the master, if his heart had not grown cold.
And after all he’d done, if he had turned away from sin,
I’ll bet Jesus would have welcomed him as a brother and a friend.
Did Judas deserve forgiveness? Did Peter deserve mercy? Absolutely not. But then it wouldn’t be mercy if they did
Well, in the time we have remaining I want to look at how Jesus restored Peter and see the formula for releasing our resentment towards others.
The last interaction Jesus had with Peter before his death was at the moment Peter denied him and the Bible says that they looked at each other and Peter broke down and wept. That was the final note they separated with. The betrayal of his closest friend. Jesus went on from there to his death.
And you and I both know that death didn’t hold Jesus. But what I want us to see is what took place after Jesus was raised back to life. He didn’t a hold a grudge against Peter. He didn’t harbor unforgiveness in his heart. On the contrary he took steps to restore Peter to his previous position.
Now remember the story. It was Sunday Morning and the women went to the tomb and found it empty and an angel was seated there and the angel instructed the women, “Go and tell the disciples and Peter to meet me in Galilee.”
You see, one of the first things Jesus did following the resurrection was to begin to repair the relationship with Peter. Can’t you just imagine the surprise in Peter’s voice when he hears what the angel had to say? And Peter must keep repeating, "Did He really mention me? After what I did to Him, did He really call me by name? Does the Lord still want me?
And then we come to our story in John 21. It says in verse 3 that Peter and the others decided to go out fishing and the fished all night but didn’t catch a thing. Not a single fish. And at dawn as the light begins to rise they see a silhouette on the beach. They don’t know who it is, but the person calls out to these men in an empty fishing boat, "Don’t you have any fish?" (I love that line)
Now if you’ve been fishing all night and you haven’t caught a single fish, the last thing you want to hear is someone say, "Don’t have any fish do you." Well, no duh. It’s like going to dentist and he asks, "Do you have a problem with your teeth?” “No I just love that little drill.”
Well Jesus asks these fisherman in an empty boat if they’ve caught any fish and you know they wish they had a snappy comeback, but they’re either tired or kind of slow and so they come back with a simple "NO".
And the figure on the beach says, throw your nets on the right side and you’ll find some fish. And reluctantly they do so, and the bible says there were so many fish in the net they couldn’t haul it in.
And John said to Peter, That’s got to be the Lord." And Peter realizes who it is he can’t wait for the boat to get in and so dives in the water and swims the 100 yards to shore. And the Bible says that when they all reached shore Jesus was cooking them breakfast. And after breakfast Jesus looks across the fire to Peter and says, Simon, Son of John, Do you truly love me more than these. I wonder if that was a subtle little hint of Peter’s words, "These others will deny you but not me."
Do you love me? Peter responds, "Yes, you know I love you." Jesus says, "than feed my lambs." Three times he asks him and I’ve always believed that Jesus asked him 3 times because Peter had denied Him 3 times.
He was forgiving Peter and restoring him to his position. Now through this story we can see a prescription for forgiveness.
#1 is to deal with it quickly. Don’t let resentment take root. Heb. 12:15 "See to it that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."
The longer we nurse a grudge the deeper the roots grow and the more offensive the grudge becomes and what it ends up doing is destroying ourselves. Jesus dealt with the betrayal right away. We never see Jesus use the failures of others as a retaliatory weapon against them.
Think about it. Jesus could have said, Peter you blew it. First you don’t have enough faith to walk on the water, than you tried to put me on a level with Moses and Elijah, time and again you failed to understand what I was saying, You tried to dissuade me from going to the cross, you wouldn’t let me wash your feet, you embarrassed me in the garden by cutting off that soldier’s ear, you ran away, and now you’ve denied me. You’ve been cowardly, conceited, rash, slow, presumptuous, impulsive, and I’ve had enough. And he could have berated him over and over and over. But Jesus gave up his right to retaliate. And he didn’t hold it as a trump card. He dealt with it immediately. And unforgiveness wasn’t a problem because Jesus didn’t give it time to become one. Deal with it quickly.
Secondly, we make a conscious decision to forgive. People often say, "I don’t want to forgive. I don’t feel like forgiving." But what we need to realize is that forgiveness doesn’t begin with a feeling, it begins with a decision. I am commanded to forgive therefore I will decide to. You see, sometimes were commanded by the Father to do something, even if we don’t really feel like it.
MARK 11:25 says forgive those that offend you so that you may be forgiven of your sins. Someone once boasted to his preacher, "I never forgive a man" and his preacher responded, than I hope you never sin."
We need to understand the seriousness of this. If we are not willing to forgive someone it can affect our relationship with God and can even affect our own salvation. Make a decision to forgive. Not because they deserve it, or because you feel like it, but because you want to be like Jesus Christ and He’s commanded you to forgive and you have been forgiven so much yourself.
Thirdly, be the first to initiate.
Jesus didn’t wait for Peter to come crawling. Sometimes we want to sit back and have them come begging to us for forgiveness, but the truth is that that rarely happens. We can decide to sit in our misery and resentment or we can initiate the forgiveness. That’s why Mat. 18:15 says, "If your brother sins against you, you go and show him his fault, just between the two of you." Initiate the forgiveness.
And then #4 We hand the revenge over to God. Rom 12:19-21 says do not repay evil for evil but leave room for God’s vengeance, for Vengeance is mine to repay, says the Lord. When you’ve been wounded realize you are not the judge.
There was an episode of the old sitcom Murphy Brown in which Murphy is offended by a coworker. To get her revenge she calls up a local church and pretending to be the coworker she gives her name and address and asks for church evangelists to come over and talk to her about salvation.
That’s what the world thinks of the church but also what the world thinks of revenge. It’s my right. I’ve been offended and not it’s time to get even.
God has a different plan.
And then #5 I release the past and focus on the future.
There is some value in looking and analyzing your past but eventually we need to get our eyes off the rearview mirror and on to the road ahead. Off the ledger of wrongs and on to what’s ahead.
And you may be sitting here right now saying to yourself, that all sounds good but you don’t know how I’ve been hurt. No I don’t. And it may be worse than anything I will ever experience. But I do know this. God has promised to give us the strength to overcome. I’ve seen it in the scripture. In the lives of men like Joseph, and Hosea, Stephen, and even Peter. I’ve seen it in the lives of friends and family members, and I believe with God, you can see it in your future as well.
As we begin to close I want you to watch a clip from the movie Les Miserabe. The movie version of the book stars Liam Nissan as a the main character who is a thief named Jon ValJean. He has just been released from 19 years in prison and seeks refuge for a night in the home of the local Bishop. As we pick it up it is the middle of the night and he is stealing the silverware. I want you to notice the offense and the response by the Bishop.
WATCH CLIP
Jon ValJean would go on to live his life for others. And in the end he would be faced with a situation in which he can carry out vengeance on his own enemy but in recalling how much he had been forgiven he finds the strength to forgive and his life is blessed because of it.
And I think that’s our final key. To remember what Jesus has done for me. To remember all the things he has forgiven me of. And in that remembrance I find the strength to extend forgiveness to those around me.
I remember the betrayal that I am guilty each and every day and I remember the forgiveness and the grace and the mercy that God extends to me time and time again.
We’re going to stand at this time and sing our invitation hymn – Change my heart Oh God. Is that a prayer that you need to pray. Is there someone you’ve been struggling to forgive? Some change you need to make? A heart that needs to change? I pray that you can do that this morning between you and God. Let’s stand and sing.
