The Betrayal of Christ
THE BETRAYAL OF CHRIST
“This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21)
As spring approaches it is time once again for us to prepare ourselves to participate in the “Passover service.” This is the most solemn feast of the year. Taking the unleavened bread and drinking of the wine, which represents the body and blood of Christ, must be taken very seriously.
The Apostle Paul reminds us of this feast when he said, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body” (1 Cor 11:28-29).
In the year 33 AD, our Saviour was sacrificed on the stake on the day of the Passover. No man has suffered as Jesus Christ did! The crucifixion was excruciatingly painful and humiliating. It was a death that was usually reserved for slaves or revolutionaries whose end was meant to be marked with special infamy!
Cicero- the great orator and statesman of the Roman Empire, who lived before the time of Christ- was well acquainted with death by crucifixion, and he knew how unspeakably horrible this type of death was, said “Let it never come near the body of a Roman citizen. It is the most cruel and shameful of all punishments.”
This is the punishment our Saviour endured. He gave His blood and His life as a ransom and by His sacrifice He paid the penalty for the sins of humanity, and He did it willingly. The Just for the unjust! So it is with good that we observe the Passover with reverence!
The Apostle Paul also spoke these words, “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread” (1 Cor 11:23).
We must not only consider the physical suffering of Christ, but also the bitterness of betrayal He endured leading up to His crucifixion. Christ's birth and death were portrayed and prophesied in many Old Testament scriptures. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not” (Isa 53:3).
After Christ's baptism, He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. After fasting 40 days and nights, Satan attacks Christ in His weakened physical state. In each temptation Christ defeated Satan by using scripture! Soon after Christ started His ministry, it became evident that strong opposition would develop against both Him and His teachings.
Jesus Christ came to Nazareth where He had been brought up. He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read from the book of Isaiah. “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me; because the LORD hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn,” (Isa 61:1-2). Then Christ began to say unto them, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21). These words were not well received by those who heard them. They were offended and said, “Is this not Joseph's son?” “And He [Christ] said, “Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country” (Luke 4:24). At that time the persecution of Christ started! They wanted to kill Him (Luke 4:28-29).
So it was the religious leaders of that day who took issue with Christ's teachings and became His strongest critics. Christ came into a religious environment that was weighted down with established religious practices and heavy with fixed interpretations of the law and Judaic traditions! The Jews would not be wooed away easily from their religious practices and traditions. The Jewish leaders' relationship with the people was authoritarian, and they took the same attitude toward Christ.
Jesus understood the ties that bound them to their past. That is why He said, “No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better” (Luke 5:39). Jesus knew they would not give up their traditions to follow God's truth. “Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But He answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” ( Matt 15:1-3). Because of the miracles performed by Jesus, His fame spread throughout the land. This brought more hatred from the religious leaders of Judaism!
When Christ chose His disciples, the decision was not a matter of favoritism, but a question of more effective service. The selection of the disciples was no easy task. There were some who wanted to follow Christ, but their commitment was weak. “And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto Him, Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath no where to lay His head. And He said unto another, Follow Me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow Thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:57-62).
The choosing of the right disciples was so important that Christ went to His Father in prayer to make the right decision. “And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called unto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles” (Luke 6:12-13).
Near the end of His ministry...” Jesus went out, and His disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way He asked His disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. And He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto Him, Thou art the Christ. And He charged them that they should tell no man of Him. And He began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:27-31). This was too hard for Peter to accept. “And He spake that saying openly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned about and looked on His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind Me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men” (Mark 8:32-33). Peter was wrong, but he had thought that Christ would be the Messiah, ruling upon the throne of David. For Christ to die such a death as a suffering servant was distasteful to His disciples.
Jesus wanted Peter to know that His followers must be willing to follow Him all the way, even to the death on the cross. There was no escaping this necessity! Jesus then spoke these hard words! “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it” (Matt 16:24-25).
Although the road into the future was clear, the prospect of the cross, the rejection and apparent defeat were hard to bear. The journey back to Jerusalem would be a road of heartache and seemingly failure, but the decision had been made. “And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son: hear Him” (Luke 9:35). God the Father had affirmed Jesus, the beloved Son, as the Messiah. Now in the confidence of His Father's approval, He set His face toward Jerusalem and what awaited Him there. After arriving in Jerusalem, Jesus knew He was soon to face His final hour. The experience of facing the cross was now an immediate fact!
The Old Testament scriptures foretold the event of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zech 9:9). The fulfillment of this event is recorded in Matthew 9:21:4-7; Mark 11:7; Luke 19:38 and John 12:14.
The Jewish people had longed for this day to arrive. Christ rode into the city as the King of the Nation, not as a traditional ruler, but nevertheless, as the One in whom the deepest longings of the past were to be realized. But some were disappointed in the manner of His arrival. They were desiring a King to be raised up from among the people to rule with justice and mercy. They believed a reign such as King David's was to be restored on earth, and the political enemies of the nation were to be put down.
Christ was soon to be betrayed by a follower of His own, whom He had chosen and loved. Judas Iscariot was the infamous disciple who betrayed Christ! There has been much debate over the motives as to why Judas choose to commit this darkest of deeds. The most common reason was thought to be greed. This was revealed in the book of John. “Then saith one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray Him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein” (John 12:4-6).
When Christ entered Jerusalem on a colt as a humble and peaceful King, Judas must have felt some
disappointment. He would have preferred that Jesus enter armed for battle and riding a war-horse! He may have suspected that there was to be no kingdom as he had hoped for and became convinced that it was useless to hold onto the cause any longer. Whatever his reasons were, he made an evil and tragic decision. He began to look for a convenient “opportunity to betray his Master” [Matt. 26:14]. The price Judas paid for the most treacherous deed is recorded for all time. “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in” (Matt 27:3-7; also Acts 1:18). The betrayal of Judas led directly to the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus the Christ.
During Christ's [illegal] trial before the High Priest many false witnesses appeared against Him. He was blindfolded, spit on, and beaten. When He admitted He was the Christ, He was charged with blasphemy and condemned to death [Mark 14:53-64].
The Jewish courts had been granted certain judicial rights by the Roman State. In cases where capital punishment was the sentence, the Jews did not have the power to carry out the death sentence. “Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye Him, and judge Him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death” (John 18:31). Because of this Jesus had to be tried in a Roman civil court. He was taken to stand before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Jesus was charged with three counts by the Jews. He perverted the nation, refused to pay taxes to Caesar and claimed to be a King. Pilate would have no interest in Jesus blasphemed against their Jewish God. So the Jews charged Him with a political crime against Rome. “And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this Man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh Himself a king speaketh against Caesar” (John 19:12).
Even though Pilate made several efforts to spare Christ's life and release Him, he gave the Jews a choice between Jesus or the criminal Barabbas. The Jews cried out for the release of Barabbas and for the death of Christ. By doing this, the Jews pronounced sentence upon themselves. “Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matt 27:25). Pilate gave in to the demands of the Jews and released Barabbas. Jesus was flogged and delivered to be crucified. The Roman soldiers beat Jesus without mercy, mocked Him, humiliated Him, and led Him away to be crucified!
Betrayal is always an evil act. It means the denial of love and breach of personal confidence; especially the love that Jesus had for His own and the confidence that existed between Jesus and His disciples!
When betrayed, the natural human instinct is to seek revenge, but revenge is a dead end. The satisfaction of revenge is fleeting and only perpetuates that hurt and the hatred. It has been said that the cruelest thing one can do to his enemies is to forgive them. If this is true, then the sweetest revenge lies in forgiveness! Jesus taught this principle as He hung on the stake and said, “... Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted His raiment, and cast lots” (Luke 23:34).
The crucifixion was an ugly business. Death on the stake was a tortuous experience and unsightly to see. As Christ was suffering and near death, He still felt a deep sorrow and longing for the welfare of His followers. He made provision for His Mother by placing her in the care of the disciple whom He loved. “Now there stood by the stake of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home” (John 19:25-27).
“After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to His mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the spirit” (John 19:28-30). Jesus the Christ had finished the purpose that He came to the earth to accomplish. He had established Himself as our Lord, the Messiah, and the Saviour of the world.
As we approach the Passover we should remember the horrible suffering and the bitter betrayal that Jesus endured for our sake! Remember that His blood was shed for our sins to be forgiven, and His body was broken for our healing.
James D. Carlisle