“Everyone turned against Jesus. Though the kiss was planted by Judas, the betrayal was committed by all. Every person took a step, but no one took a stand. As Jesus left the garden he walked alone. The world had turned against him. He was betrayed.” Excerpt from Max Lucado’s "And the angels were silent".

 

Betrayal stings so much because often it is at the hands of those you trust and/or love the most.

 

Family and friends let you down; they say and do things that cut you to the quick. People you once regarded as friends no longer give you the time of day. Fellow Christians behave in ways irreconcilable with the truth of the Word. You reel in disbelief. Surely, they will apologise? Crickets.

 

Lucado expressed it well, “It’s a weapon found only in the hands of one you love. … It’s a violation of trust, an inside job.” In a professional context, it comes from those beaming with saccharine smiles, until you feel the agony of betrayal. Stolen contracts, distorted facts, ghastly acts. You did not see it coming.

 

How do you protect yourself from the stinging pain? Do you live life waiting for the inevitable: people are sure to let you down? Or is there another way?

 

None of us is perfect, all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Perhaps, people falling short should be expected. Since that day in the garden, human brokenness has become the norm, not the exception.

 

Jesus knew it, and according to John 2:24-25 he would not entrust himself to people, for he knew what was in the heart of men. It did not stop him from loving us, though.

 

May his example entreat us to entrust ourselves to God and not man. The disciples of old encountered the Lion of Judah and put their faith in him. “Something happens to a man when he stands within inches of the Judean Lion. Something happens when he hears the roar, when he can feel the Lion’s breath, ” Lucado writes.

 

Like them, may God help us to find the strength to be more than we ever imagined, because we, too, have made him our Saviour!

 

Prayer: Lord, we are so grateful that you modelled sacrificial love for us. When others sin against us, help us extend forgiveness the way you always do. Amen.