9. Mark 14:17-21
When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”
Betrayal. It is an incredibly painful word. It is more than just hurting someone for gain. It is more than just wishing an adversary ill. It is far more than even desiring the death of an enemy.
Betrayal. What makes it so painful is that betrayal implies – indeed, is defined by – a breech of trust. It means that someone trusted you, cared for you, counted on you, perhaps loved you. And yet despite all of that you did that person harm.
Betrayal. It also implies that the breech of trust was intentional. An accident is one thing, but betrayal implies a conscious, knowing, deliberate act of using the trust someone has placed in you against that person.
Betrayal. It is an awful, painful word because it is an awful, painful experience, perhaps one of the worst we can know.
And, of course, it’s part and parcel of our human experience. We have been betrayed by others, and we have betrayed those we care about as well. Perhaps not to the extent that Judas betrays Jesus. Yet who among us has not let another down, been unworthy of a confidence, disappointed the reasonable expectations of others, failed to live up to the trust placed in us. And who has not experienced the same from others.
Betrayal. It is painful. And it is ordinary. And perhaps this is why our Lord experiences it, too. Because Jesus came to this earth, shared our life and our lot, suffering all that we suffer, that he might both sympathize with and redeem us from all that afflicts our life and condition in this world. As the author of the Letter to the Hebrews writes, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:15-16).
Jesus knows what we suffer because Jesus suffered it to. And because it didn’t finish him, we have his promise that it will not finish us either. For whatever difficult or low places we’ve been or may yet go, Jesus has already been there. And where Jesus is now, we will also one day be. Thanks be to God.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to share our life, to suffer our fate, and to endure what we endure so that we might live, struggle, love, and die all in hope. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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