“Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”How must that have felt, to look around a table at a group of people whom you love, who have traveled with you, dined with you, and shared life-changing, miraculous experiences with you, and know that one of them will offer you up for your death? How painful. At a time when Jesus needed all of the strength and support his friends could offer, to realize that his trust had been mislaid so dangerously must have added to his burden.
I'm sure the apostles were baffled by Jesus' statement as well. I wonder if each of them was thinking: Who among this group of trusted friends would abandon our leader at a time like this?
Most of us know something about betrayal. At difficult times in our lives, we realize who our friends are, and sometimes our hearts are broken by those who fail to live up to our expectations.
It's not just Judas who fails Jesus. Even those who remain with him are not steadfast. Peter swears he would lay down his life for Jesus, and once again, Jesus offers a prediction: The cock will not crow before you deny me three times.
Is he actually seeing the future, or does he just know that nobody else has the strength to bear this particular burden? He is resigned to go it alone: Where I am going, you cannot follow me now.
I pray that I have the courage and compassion to stick with the people in my life who need me the most, and I pray in a special way for those who feel alone and abandoned in their hour of need.
No comments:
Post a Comment