Betrayal
This fresh set of Daily Devotions is being provided for our LCA/NZ family, friends and visitors to help us to keep our eyes on Jesus as we face unsettling times. They can be used by families and individuals as part of the LCA/NZ’s Church@Home resources to encourage us and build trust in our Heavenly Father during this season of uncertainty and physical isolation.
by Sal Huckel
Click here for your printable verse to carry with you today.
As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him (John 13:27).
Read John 13:21-32
Many of us have experienced betrayal at some time by someone close and dear to us. Have you ever shared the deepest parts of yourself, only for that trusted person to turn on you and become an enemy?
Reflecting on our own experiences can bring us closer to the cross, closer to Jesus’ Passion. But even as we think about our own experiences of betrayal, we can read today’s text and still not be able to comprehend the magnitude of Jesus’ betrayal by Judas.
There is something here for us though. Because Jesus was betrayed so painfully by Judas, we can be sure that he knows the dreadful pain and shame we feel from the betrayal of our friend or loved one. He has been there. We can take our pain and brokenness to the cross in the confidence that Jesus knows it and feels it. He lived it before we did. He lives it with us now. As we heard recently in the story of Lazarus, Jesus wept. He wept because he knew the pain. Every human emotion we experience, Jesus knows it.
Sometimes a betrayal might end in reconciliation. Sometimes, though, as with Judas, a betrayal will end with no reconciliation on this earth and we are left to wonder how it fits into God’s kingdom. One day we might have the answer, and many others. For now though, we need to trust God’s divine plan for our lives, with the assurance that he knows our every care and worry. After all, he has walked it all before us.
Lord Jesus, just as the disciples had no idea what was playing out before them, so we have many things going on in our lives that we cannot understand. Help us to trust that you have the full picture, and our times are in your hands. Where there is betrayal, we pray you will bring repentance and reconciliation. Where we are not able to experience those things, we pray by the power of the Holy Spirit that we will be able to trust your sovereign will for our lives and leave our burdens at the cross. It is comforting to know that you share our pain, and you weep with us. Amen.
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