Harvest Church RDU
Worship Jesus. Love the Church. Reach the World.
O Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his back to the smiters and hid not his face from shame: Grant us grace to take joyfully the sufferings of the present time, in full assurance of the glory that shall be revealed; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
John 13:21-32
After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.
Happy Holy Week,
It is easy to think of Judas Iscariot as the traitor. He was the one who infamously handed Jesus over to the religious leaders for some silver. It is also easy to identify the others who betrayed him. The religious leaders brought him to Pilate to be killed, and the crowd of Jews demanded the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus. In all these situations, it is easy to view ourselves as his loyal disciples and followers, not those who betrayed him.
However, as we reflect during Holy Week, it is important to remember the reason for Christ’s sacrifice. We might instinctively defend ourselves by pointing out that we were not the ones to hand Jesus over to the religious leaders and demand his execution, but is that true?
Aren’t we the ones, along with all people, who made Christ’s sacrifice necessary? It is our sin, our betrayal of our infinite God and Creator, that brought Christ to that cross. Again, it is easy to read about Jesus being betrayed and put ourselves on his side, directly opposed to those who betrayed him. Let us not forget during this season that it is our sin that made the cross a reality.
Thankfully, as we will celebrate this week, God did not leave us to our sins and was gracious enough to send his Son to die in our place. Let’s banish our pride and embrace the love of Christ that was extended even to those who betrayed him.
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