Midweek Lenten Devotion (Betrayal and Faithfulness)

The One who Promised Is Faithful
A devotion based on Hebrews 10:23

It’s a beautiful sign of affection. It’s an intimate expression of love. But in the Garden of Gethsemane a kiss took on a whole new meaning. It was the sign of betrayal. It was a distant expression of love gone wrong. But Jesus had never hurt him. Jesus had never wronged him. In fact, just hours before his betrayal as Judas dipped bread into the same dish as Jesus, Jesus warned him of what would happen. Jesus warned him, because he loved him.

But I suppose that if we had to identify a reason for Judas’ betrayal, it was all about the money. Judas proved the saying, “Every person has his price,” to be true. The price for Judas was 30 silver coins, the equivalent to four month’s wages. That’s it. For about $15,000, Judas was willing to turn his back on his Lord with the kiss of betrayal. How could he do that? But friend for every finger I point at Judas, there are three fingers point back at me. Three fingers pointing back and saying, “Judas, Judas, Judas.” I have betrayed my Lord and turned my back on him. And by doing this, I have handed Jesus over to the cruelty of the cross. But just as a kiss took on new meaning in Gethsemane, so on the cross betrayal took on a whole new meaning. For in it we find, The One Who Promised Is Faithful.

Judas always gets a bad wrap for betraying, right? But he wasn’t the only one to turn his back on Jesus. You might think of Peter or one of the other disciples. While they are on the list of people who turned their backs on Jesus, they aren’t the ones I had in mind either. The ones I have in mind are modern-day Judases. Me. You. Maybe you’re thinking, “That’s not me! I would have remembered if I had turned my back on Jesus.” Really?
Consider for a moment, Judas’ kiss. It was all show. There was no emotion or feeling behind it. Only focus on those 30 silver coins in his hands and the possibilities they brought. You and I aren’t different. We, too, kiss God and embrace him like a dear friend. But how often do we find more pleasure and happiness when the 1st and 15th of the month role around with another paycheck and we can think about the things we can buy and the places we can go with those paychecks. Slowly our backs start to turn and Jesus fades into second place.

But take the kiss a step further. A kiss can be a powerful reminder of how else we turn our backs on Jesus. Nobody likes to kiss a person with bad breath. Nobody likes to kiss a person that you find repulsive. How repulsive is the odor of your mouth with words that mix into your everyday speech that just flat-out reek. How brutal, piercing, and unloving are the words you speak to your family members that leaves a stench so overwhelming? Slowly our backs begin to turn.

The list could lengthen because like Peter you’ve kept silent instead of speaking up for Jesus. Like the other disciples, instead of standing strong for Jesus in the face of opposition, you’ve turned and run in fear. You and I, by our thoughts, with our words, and through our actions are no better than money-hungry Judas, petrified Peter, or the flighty-followers in Gethsemane.

The list of betrayers is long. But the list isn’t complete yet? There is still one more! It’s God the Father! WHAT? Yes, he also turned his back on Jesus. But it wasn’t in betrayal. It was in faithfulness. That’s a mind-boggling statement, isn’t it? God the Father turned his back on Jesus in faithfulness. To understand what it means, listen again to the second half of Hebrews 10:23, “For he who promised is faithful.”

Usually when we hear the word faithful we think that it’s talking about what we should be. But here, Hebrews 10 does something that rest of the Bible often does, it attaches it to God. But how do we determine God’s faithfulness?

Has he lived up to his name of being faithful? Everything he says, he does. Every promise he has made, he has kept. That would make him 100% faithful. Now translate that into what it means for us. As a 100% faithful God, he can’t go back on his Word. When he said that an offspring of Eve would crush the devil’s head, he meant it. When he said that someone would be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities, he meant it. He meant it, even though he knew full well WHO that offspring and WHO that pierced and crushed one would be – his very own Son. And when promises became reality, when nails hit flesh, when daytime became dark, and when a Father’s fury became a Son’s agony, Jesus could muster but one heartbreaking question, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

But it is in that piercing cry that we hear the contrast of the cross. God was doing to his Son, what we did to him. For all the times that we turned our backs on God, God didn’t turn his back on us. Instead he turned his back on his own Son. He turned his back on his Son and let him suffer for our odorous and repulsive sins. In turning his back on his own Son, God showed just how faithful he is. He won’t back down from his promises. And the cross is the greatest proof of that.

But God’s faithfulness didn’t dead-end at the cross. His faithfulness continued on with the promise of his Son’s empty tomb. It didn’t stop there, though! It continued on with the promises to us of our own places in heaven and our own empty tombs on earth. Do you know what God is doing here by giving us these faithful promises? He is giving us hope – forgiveness now, life eternal, peace of mind, confidence in life.

The gift of hope and its awesome results are exactly what we can take with us as we walk away from the cross. But what do we exactly do with hope? We do with it, what the first part of our verse encourages, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess.” We hold unswervingly to it. Picture, if you will, a ship that is traveling directly on a course and not deviating from it in any way. Now carry that over to our lives. What do we do with the gift of hope given us at the cross? We use it to navigate unswervingly through the churning waters of life. We use its strength to keep our backs turned to our own desires, like worldly accomplishments or popularity or a surplus of coins. We use its strength to keep our backs turned to our own words, filthy as they can sometimes be. We use its strength to keep our eyes ever fixed on Jesus.

Not that long ago I read an article listing the least popular names throughout recent history. Judas’ name made this list. Maybe because people who don’t read the Bible are familiar with what he did and they don’t what their child to be associated with betrayal. Well, whether we like or not, because of our sin, we are associated with betrayal. In our thoughts, by our words, and with our actions, we have betrayed our God so many times and in so many ways. But thank goodness, he has never betrayed us. Instead he has remained faithful to every single on of his promises, because the one who promised is faithful. Even when it meant turning his back on his own Son? You bet. That’s because God wanted to give us hope, hope for the present that assures us that even our worst back-turning offenses are forgiven and hope for the future knowing that eternal life is ours. May our faithful God keep us ever full of faith until the promise of life eternal becomes a reality.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, with a kiss you were betrayed into the hands of men who eventually would kill you. With a kiss I too have joined the angry mob that came to arrest you in the Garden. In my thoughts, by my words, and with my actions, I have betrayed you so many times and in so many ways. Forgive me! Lift my eyes to see your faithfulness and love as you extended your arms on the cross and suffered the cruel punishment for me. Fill my heart with everlasting joy for your faithfulness to me and the forgiveness you won for me. Help me each day to live for you, my faithful Savior, Amen.