The Power of betrayal- Wednesday in Holy Week

Matthew 26:14-25

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I betray him to you?’ They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ He said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, “The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.” ’ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.

When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, ‘Surely not I, Lord?’ He answered, ‘The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.’ Judas, who betrayed him, said, ‘Surely not I, Rabbi?’ He replied, ‘You have said so.’

There are many powerful motifs in the Passion Story and one of them is betrayal. It is easy to project all the dimensions of this on to others, in this story on Judas.

What this passage shows is that the possibility of betrayal is at our doorstep. As Jesus reveals that one will betray him, so they each say "Surely not I, Lord?"....I am not sure of the force of the Greek here. But presumably it is a question rather than an emphatic statement.
They all thus assume that Jesus knows them better than they know themselves, and is able to say how they are likely to act. They do not therefore assert that they will not betray him, but rather question whether they will be the one who snaps.
This is actually I think the reality of the situation betrayal lies at our door, it is a question rather than a definite no!
We make the transition by committing ourselves to the life of Jesus above everything else.
It may, and probably will at some time, lead us to our own Cross.
The Cross, is also the gate to the eternal life that God longs for us to have in Christ.
Today
Pray for commitment to Christ, deeper than we have ever been committed before.
Commitment that moves us from question to certainty, from betrayal to loyalty.