How Do You Handle Betrayal?

“But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table” (Luke 22:21). Jesus was betrayed. Think about that for a minute. Betrayal has to be one of the most painful emotional and spiritual trials to go through. One of the twelve disciples whom Jesus has invested precious, blessed time with sold him out for 30 pieces of silver. With a kiss. And in the verse I quoted above, this guy is sharing one of the most intimate meals with the Savior of the world, the One he is going to betray. How do you handle something like betrayal? Just the fear of it causes us to put up walls and act suspiciously. We can damage perfectly good relationships out of fear of being hurt or looking like a fool. Jesus wasn’t concerned about that. He knew he was going to be betrayed. He says it after he institutes and serves his disciples the Lord’s Supper. That line is stunning really. Jesus knew he was going to be betrayed in the worst kind of way. But he also knew it was part of the Father’s plan. He recognizes this in the Word of God (John 17:12) regarding his suffering. But in his suffering, he did not take measures to protect himself from the pain of betrayal. Trusting in the Father, and even knowing he was going to be betrayed, Jesus treated Judas with the same care as the rest of the disciples, at the expense of his own pain. Even in the woe that he pronounces during the Supper on the one who will betray him, Jesus is trusting in the Father to vindicate him on the day of judgment. In his high priestly prayer recorded in John 17, we see that Jesus did not guard or keep Judas as he did the rest. He did not function in that priestly role for Judas (v.12), for he  did not “keep” Judas in God’s name. So what does this mean for us? This makes me think of verses like Heb. 2:17 and 4:15, and 5:8. Jesus really can identify with our suffering. He is the perfect high priest who has suffered like we have, and can offer true compassion to his people. We too are called to suffer. There’s a good chance that we will also experience betrayal from someone we care about. But we can take risks and truly love people because we are loved by the only One that matters. He is seated at the right hand of the Father as our advocate. He is our perfect high priest who really can sympathize with our pain. And he is interceding on our behalf, working all things for his glory and our good. What is our good? To be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. He suffered betrayal. He carried his cross. And he knew the Father would vindicate him. To paraphrase the title of Edward Welch’s book, God is bigger than people. I may be betrayed by the people I care about. But God already knows, and is working in this very betrayal. And God is always faithful. I’d rather be kept in him than in my own measures of protection and provision.