betrayal

Betrayal

19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. 20 When
evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. 21 Now as they were eating, He
said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” 22 And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?”

Matthew 26:19-22

As Jesus was with his disciples for the last night, he created a last supper for them. It wasn’t by
accident that it also fell on Passover as that feast pointed towards this very moment. This would
be Jesus’ goodbye, at least until he came back from the dead.

In Matthew, the first words of Jesus are very strange. ‘Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will
betray me.’

It’s not exactly a happy or uplifting statement. It’s not exactly the tone one would normally start
to say goodbye. Perhaps this was a bit of Jesus’ human pain coming through. Perhaps this truth
pained his heart, not even so much for the betrayal but for what the betrayal would do to the
betrayer. Jesus could already see Judas being lost in his heart.

What is even stranger than Jesus’ words however, are the words of the disciples themselves! The
Bible makes it very clear that every one of the disciples had the same question:

‘Lord, is it I?’

For someone to first think and then have enough courage to actually ask, shows just how
uncertain they were about themselves. They must have truly thought this a possibility to even
bring it up. They must have recognized just how weak and shakable they were. These were of
course the same men that would in just a few hours run away from Jesus and the soldiers- in
essence betraying him indeed.

How about you? If you were sitting around in that supper, would you have asked Jesus the same
question? How shaky is your commitment and faith in Jesus? Would you also run once you see
soldiers with weapons in their hands to arrest or even kill Jesus and you?

The good news about this story is that even if your answer is yes, your in good company. Jesus’
most faithful were also weak but they didn’t stay that way. Jesus took those doubting men,
thinking themselves able to betray their lord, and turned them into mighty disciples of faith and
courage.

Jesus can do the same to you if you let him. The Spirit is already knocking on your door.

God bless,

Pr. Steven Couto