Betrayed with a Kiss

“Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.

“Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.”

“’But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!’ And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.”

“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?’” (Luke 22:1-6,21-23,47-48 ESV)

Have you ever been betrayed? I have. It is not a pleasant experience. But to be betrayed by a close companion, your trusted friend, your co-worker, that is the absolute worst! Of course Jesus knew this in advance, so he knew this was coming, but we don’t always, as humans, see these things coming, and that is when it just devastates us. But if we are wise and discerning, we might be able to tell when something is amiss, but we may not, and so we may end up caught totally off guard, and it may just tear us to bits.

So, how can we prepare our hearts and minds for this possibility? For one, we need to look at life realistically, and we must realize that all of us are human and thus we are all susceptible to sin and to deception. And we must open our eyes to see what is going on in the world all around us, and we must recognize that liars and deceivers abound these days and it is few who can really be trusted to be who they say that they are. Realistically, we should decide ahead of time that anyone we know could be our betrayer.

For the Scriptures do teach us that we should not put our trust in other humans. We are not to put our trust in princes (government heads), in human beings, who cannot save. Our faith is not to rest in the wisdom of other humans, either, but on the power of God. We are not to be followers of other human beings who are bound to fail us, for they are just flesh and blood. And we are not to boast in other humans, either, committing our absolute faith, loyalty, and devotion to them. And we are not to become slaves of humans, living our lives to please them, in place of God.

[Psalms 146:3; Psalms 118:9; Isaiah 40:23; Hosea 8:4; Hosea 13:10; Psalms 147:10-11; Jeremiah 17:5-6; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9,18-23; 1 Corinthians 7:23; Galatians 1:10; Galatians 2:12; Ephesians 4:14-16; Ephesians 6:5-8; Colossians 2:8,20-23; Colossians 3:23-24; 1 Thessalonians 2:3-8; 1 Peter 4:1-5; 2 Peter 3:17-18]

So, when we hold lightly to human relationships, and we face the reality that anyone could be our betrayer, it helps to prepare us for a time when we might be betrayed, possibly by a close friend and companion. It will still hurt, mind you, when we are betrayed by someone close to us, if we are loving and caring and tenderhearted people. But it should not throw us off balance. It should not devastate us, for we were prepared for this eventuality, and so we anticipated that it might come to this eventually.

And why can we assume this? Well, because the Scriptures tell us that if we follow Jesus Christ with our lives, and if we are walking in his ways and in his truth, and if we are sharing the truth of the gospel, and if we are refuting the lies of the enemy, that we will be targeted. We will be hated, rejected, cast aside as unwanted, forsaken, forgotten, betrayed, and persecuted. And some of our worst opposition might come from within the gatherings of what are called “churches,” not from the people out in the world.

And why do people betray other people, even those closest to them? Because of the evil which is stored up in their hearts. Because they are jealous, envious, bitter, resentful, unforgiving, proud, spiteful, and unfeeling. Their goal is to find ways to get even with those who have walked away from their sinful lifestyles to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands, because their ways are evil, and the person who they are against is walking in the ways of the Lord in holy living (like the story of Cain and his brother Abel).

And it is because they are selfish self-centered and self-indulgent people who are full of pride and who want their own way. And sometimes it is because they just want the money to spend on their bad habits, and so they don’t care who they have to sell out in order to get what their sinful hearts are craving (like addicts). I mean, when people deliberately and habitually sin against God and against other humans it is because they are selfish people who think only of what they want, regardless of who they hurt.

And they may even betray you “with a kiss,” i.e. while pretending that they are your friend, and while they are acting all nice to you, and so you may begin to think that everything is good now. But that may be just the lead up to the “full throttle” attack against you and against your character. For they are hoping that “the kiss” will get you off guard so that you won’t suspect what is coming, and so you will be taken by surprise. For the element of surprise is all part of the plan to hurt you, which is the ultimate goal.

Hold on to relationships lightly. Please know that anyone may turn out to be your enemy. No human can be trusted fully. Put your trust and hope and faith in the Lord and not in other humans, and believe God when he says that if you follow him that you will be treated as Jesus was treated. Keep your eyes open to what is going on all around you and in the world so that you are not caught off guard when “all hell breaks loose,” which it is, and which is only going to get much worse (Matthew 24; Revelation, the book).

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/379406352