Good morning. Nothing about the passion of Jesus, His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary to take away the sin of the world, was easy. The physical pain was very real because Jesus was absolutely human. The spiritual pain was far worse, because God made Him who knew no sin to become sin so that we might become the righteousness of God through Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 When Jesus became sin for us, the Son was made separate from the Father for the first and only time. That was painful.
Have you ever considered the emotional pain that was part of Jesus’ life when He considered what was coming, and the part His closest followers and friends, those we think of as His “disciples”, were going to play?
The 14th chapter of John’s gospel is well known to us for it is in that chapter that Jesus tells His disciples not to be troubled but to trust in God the Father and in Himself, the Son of God. In John 14:6 Jesus tells them: I am the way, the truth, and the life, and that none shall come to the Father except through Him. But immediately before Jesus shares those words with them, we read of something else. We read of Jesus concern for them and for their inevitable betrayal.
In John 13:18 we read: I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ As we read on, we see in John 13:21-22 that Jesus also suffered emotional pain as He considered what Judas would do: 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.
Betraying Jesus seemed impossible for His disciples, perhaps excluding Judas. Peter said to Jesus with no hesitation, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” John 13:37 Can you imagine the sorrow in His voice as Jesus responded, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.” John 13:38
We may live our lives today with an air of confidence not unlike that of Peter and the other ten disciples, Judas excluded. What would the Lord say to us? Could it be something like: “Yes, I know your heart. But my dear friend, you will betray Me, for every sin against the will of the Father is a betrayal of My love and sacrifice”.
Now for the Good News. We fail, we fall, we betray the Lord, our Savior and friend. But He will never fall, never fail, never refuse us, never neglect our needs. His love goes beyond our failures and betrayals, just as it did for Peter and the others.
While that truth is very real for us the question remains, are you willing to cause your Savior pain today by betraying His love? May we all do our best to love Him most.
Vern