A little over 2,000 years ago, an innocent young Man in His early 30’s was betrayed by one of His closest pals. That single act, perpetuated by a chosen Apostle, is the greatest of all time (G.O.A.T) betrayal this world would ever witness. And who else could have been at the receiving end? Our one and only Christ, the Messiah. Jesus was betrayed, not that He felt betrayed like some of us sometimes experience. Betrayal is the sense of being harmed by a trusted person’s intentional actions or omissions. In the context of our discussion, it is an act of deliberate disloyalty exhibited by a trusted person to one’s detriment.
After forty days of fasting and prayer, Jesus presented His mandate in Luke 4:18-19 to the congregation in the temple. He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
To help push and execute this assignment around the first century AD, Jesus prayerfully and carefully selected twelve men called the twelve (12) apostles. He picked them with the notion of transforming them unto His likeness so they could equally multiply their kind throughout the world after He had gone to be with the Father. From His teachings of the beatitudes until the period just before His crucifixion, the twelve trusted apostles enjoyed good fellowship with Jesus. Even when rebuked by Him, they took it in good faith and clinched even closer to Him. As a good Teacher, He came to their level and even gave some nicknames and shared secrets He did not expect them to tell others until His resurrection. After one outreach, they rejoiced that even the demons obeyed their commands. When some of the disciples opted to stop following Him, Jesus asked the twelve if they also wanted to leave. Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:66-69).
None of the twelve (12) at this time gave his colleagues any clue of his misgivings or grievances against the Lord. However, Christ knew that one of them had started admiring the world and entertaining Satan in his heart. As early as John chapter six, Jesus announced to the apostles that one of them would betray Him. He told them in John 6:70, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” The apostles probably saw such statements as one of His weird parables He often told them. Was that how Judas himself saw it? Unfortunately, all the clues Christ gave him were brushed aside. Were these early warning signals by Christ not meant for the apostles and Judas himself to work at it? Or better still, leave that for some unbelievers or new converts to execute since someone must, by all means, betray Him for our salvation? Is it true that those who betray others do not know until D-day? That is what even makes Apostle Judas’ betrayal a monumental and a record-breaking one that will stay in the world’s books of records until thy Kingdom comes.
The objective of the write-up is to examine how trusted people betray the trust reposed on them and suggest ways of managing such people once their footsteps are sensed. I would also seek to advise all who have specialised in betraying people on desisting from such ungodly practices using the end of Apostle Judas as a case study.
Ordinarily, it shouldn’t be too difficult to predict who a person’s betrayers would be in the household setting, the marketplace, or even amongst the company of believers. Jealous, envious, and greedy characters and those who harbour intense hatred for others are easy suspects to pick whenever a betrayal occurs. In John’s account, Jesus rebuked the apostles, especially Judas, for harassing a woman who anointed His head with her expensive perfume before He died. He told them, “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” The Lord exposed the inherent weaknesses in that argument and singled out Judas as a dishonest person with no integrity. (John 12:4-8).
Was Apostle Judas offended at this open rebuke? According to the account of Matthew, the next thing Judas did was to visit the Chief Priest and negotiate with them on how much they would pay him if he betrayed Jesus to them. Wow! It is, therefore, not out of place to conclude that one of the things that also leads to the betrayal of others is an offence. He asked the Chief Priest, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you? So, they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on, Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.” (Matthew 26:14-16). It would be better to openly discuss and deal with an offence if it’s becoming challenging to forgive and let go than to harbour resentment, which can lead to a betrayal.
Apostle Judas started so well, but towards the end of his Master’s days on earth, he started “flirting” with the Chief Priest and his officials. Little did he know that by pitching camp with the opponents of Christ, he was threading on very slippery grounds. Why didn’t he open up to one of the disciples about the money in his pocket, even if he was afraid to tell Christ and own up openly? Unfortunately, Corrupt minds and hearts, courtesy of a lousy company, would almost always betray others helplessly, even if they don’t want to. Judas wouldn’t have had easy access to the opponents of Christ if he had not already gained their confidence and trust. Discussing how much they were willing to.
“Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: ‘The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.’ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed him. (Matthew 26:48-50). According to Luke’s account, “Jesus asked him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”(Luke 22:48). It is instructive to learn that betrayers have their own arranged symbols, signs, and media they use to perpetuate their acts. In Matthew 26:48-49, Judas chose “kissing” of his victim for his operation. Choosing the language of Love to betray the Love of God in the person of Christ, coupled with his behaviour at the Last Supper, is why I think his betrayal was monumental. Today, there are many more avenues of betrayal to watch out for. These include but are not limited to strategic visits, offering gifts for entrapment, recording others unknowingly, or putting phones on loudspeakers without informing the party at the other end, etc.
It is worth noting that professional betrayers usually don’t operate in an aggressive mode because the objective is to wrought their wicked acts under the guise of Love and friendliness. They typically come singing fake praises, but like Jesus did with Judas, one must stay alert and spiritually conscious anytime their footsteps are sensed. Dealing with aggressive people sometimes becomes much simpler and less stressful in the long term. It is better to manage an aggressive “Peter” than lurk around with a hypocritical “Judas.”
The tricky part of the betrayal of Jesus was His foreknowledge about the person even before the time, yet he still managed to dine with him before D-day. How many of us could’ve accommodated Judas before the day of his betrayal without messing up the entire salvation process? It takes Grace to dine with a person who you know has harboured hatred for you and is waiting to explode in a matter of hours. Even though nothing ever surprises the Sovereign and all-knowing God, Jesus’ rhetoric about the mode Judas chose to hand Him over to be crucified smacks some level of surprise. He only expressed His shock in the manner through which he betrayed Him. He, however, still called Judas, His friend, saying, “Do what you came for, friend.” (Matthew 26:50).
If Jesus were to be one of us, we would still have wondered how an Apostle on earth could have done that against us. Convincing answers would have been sought before completing the task of procuring the salvation of humankind. Many have, thus, given up on their God-given projects intended to be a blessing not only unto themselves but also to their household and generations due to a betrayal they cannot still come to terms with. Judging from the mode of kiss the Apostle used in betraying his Boss, others in the shoes of Christ would have fought Judas vehemently by any available means, including a possible physical assault. It was, therefore, not surprising that Peter pulled a sword and slashed the ear of one servant in the company of Judas. This option could also have encouraged the thugs who came to arrest Jesus, which would have been bloody for the other apostles of Christ. Physical assault of your betrayers, no matter how painful, can also not be the way to go because you may likely put many more innocent people in harm’s way. So, Jesus immediately fixed back and restored the ear of the high Priest’s servant. Realising how compromised Judas had become, many in the shoes of Christ would have severed normal relationships with him and planned for his early replacement before it would be too late.
In today’s world, many would have set Judas up with some of the modern-day electronic gadgets to record all the proceedings of Judas and the Chief Priest. Was that in any way going to bring repentance to Judas’ infected heart by Satan? Therefore, it is not surprising that even the possibility of entrapment and awareness of a CCTV recording in our society today is still insufficient to prevent a heart determined to patronise ill-gotten riches. At best, these gadgets may only explain what happened, but they can’t prevent such evil occurrences. The mere deployment of electronic devices cannot transform a callous heart. It is the Lord Jesus who heals such a warped heart. Some would also have picked issues with the remaining eleven Apostles as comrades who could not sit Judas down and reprimand him for the strange attitude he had begun putting up.
Advising people is divine, but a heart focused on the course of betrayal is another thing and level all together. Jesus, therefore, chose instead to pray for His apostles, including Judas. Praying to the Father in John 17:9, Jesus said, “I pray for them…He continued in verse 12, “None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.” So, let us also do the same as the first step in managing those we sense are likely to betray us.
The million-dollar question is whether Apostle Judas really needed the thirty pieces of silver the Chief Priest gave him. This works to a maximum of Two Hundred and Eighty dollars ($280.00) in today’s terms. Was he able to spend that money in any profitable way? “So, Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.” (Matthew 27:5). The money was used to purchase the parcel of land called the Field of Blood. According to Acts 1:18, it was on that piece of land that he hanged himself and died. It appeared Judas lost interest in some of the prayer meetings Christ called with His apostles. At the last 3-hour marathon prayer, the Lord called at Gethsemane; Judas absented himself because he was with the Chief Priest and his men. (Matthew 26:46-49). What could have accounted for this?
Meanwhile, this Apostle of Christ ironically appeared to be in the good books of the office of the Chief Priest. (Mark 14:10). Those whose preoccupation is to always please men, even at God’s expense, are suspects in any betrayal incidence. From the above, greed, envy, wickedness, hatred, bitterness, hypocrisy, ingratitude, men-pleasing syndrome, lousy company, and ill-advised ambitions are some traits that drive people to betray their neighbours.
Learning from Christ lets us all manage our betrayers maturely so we don’t behave as though something strange is happening to us. Do not also end up making everyone a scapegoat out of that single person who betrayed you. Your strength far outweighs theirs, so be sober and exhibit the highest Christian values since the end will always be glorious. Let us all guard our spirits and hearts, or else we will threaten to break the record of the Apostle, who was instead supposed to be a module and example for people like Martha and Lazarus to emulate. If you have been contracted to betray someone for any handsome reward, please repent and desist from that wicked act. The bizarre end of the Late Apostle Judas offers us enough lessons for our Christian pilgrimage. Walking in the Spirit and eschewing all manner of evil, men-pleasing, and hypocritical tendencies are ways of avoiding the tag of a betrayer. Stay blessed.
Written by Pastor James Orhin Agyin