Tag Archives: Betrayal

What Will You Give Me?

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Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver Him over to you?”  Matthew 26:14-15 ESV1

Read Matthew 26:14-16, 20-25, 47-50 & 27:3-9; Mark 14:10-11, 17-21, 43-46; Luke 22:3-6, 47-48; John 13:18-30 & 18:1-6

I fear many of us who consider ourselves Christians have chosen Jesus but with false information and inaccurate expectations. We haven’t been given the full Gospel nor considered the whole cost. We may have said a special prayer, tried to sneak into the Kingdom as we raised our hands when every head was bowed and eye closed, or even boldly responded to an altar call. But that doesn’t mean much if we did it to please others or solely for personal gain. Some well-meaning people might have assured us we have free tickets to Heaven or eternal safety with our spiritual fire insurance. But if we chose Jesus for the wrong reasons, our commitment to Him is fraudulent. If our Christianity is self-focused, our following of Jesus is much like Judas Iscariot’s.

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Choosing Forgiveness

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Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” John 18:11 ESV1

Read Matthew 26:47-56, Mark 14:43-50, Luke 22:47-53 & John 18:1-11

Have you ever been let down by someone you counted on to stand beside you? Or have you been betrayed by someone you had considered a friend? Have you ever been slandered by someone you had tried to help? Or have you been abandoned by someone who was supposed to love you?

I have. I can answer in the affirmative to each of those questions. Even though years have passed since some of those incidents took place, when they are brought back to my memory, the pain floods in anew and emotions rise in me which I thought had long ago subsided. Most of us can probably identify with such hurts. Jesus can too. But how we deal with being rejected may be quite different than the way Jesus did.

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