FRIEND
BETRAYAL
Eighth
of twelve in Lamb of God Parallel Bible Series
Psalm
55:12-14, Mark 14:17-21
Psalm
55:13-14: “But it is you, a man like
myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet
fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.”
Mark
14:17-18: “When evening came, Jesus
arrived with the Twelve. While they were
reclining at the table eating, He said, ‘I tell you the
truth, one of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me.’”
Falsely
Accused devotion showed how the life of David paralleled the life of our
Savior Jesus Christ. Don’t the two
opening Scripture passages almost sound like the same person? Psalm
55 shows heartbreaking truths of a close friendship broken by betrayal. Sweet fellowship is extremely close emotional
ties with another, like total agreement one-heart harmony.
Betrayal shatters friendships.
Friend betrayal is worse between
Christians. Christian friendship is a
covenant, like God’s covenant promise with believers in Christ. Betrayal is when one’s words sound sweet, but
spoken from a sword-drawn heart. The betrayer draws blood with personal
insulting attacks, smearing the other’s reputation that seek ruin.
“Betray” is believer’s code for
Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ disciples.
Judas was with Jesus and the other apostles for three years. Many times while alone, they shared intimate
details about the kingdom of God.
Jesus said, when He washed Judas’
feet, knowing then that he wasn’t the friend he pretended to be, “And you are clean, though not every one of you.” (John
13:5, 11). Judas tasted the sacrament of
Jesus’ body and blood. “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Jesus said in 1
Corinthians 11:24. Then, Jesus said in
Matthew 26:21, “…I tell you the truth, one of you will
betray Me.”
“Then
Judas, the one who would betray Him, said, ‘Surely not I, Rabbi?’” (Matthew
26:22).
Soon after, at Gethsemane, Matthew 26:48-50
says, “Now the betrayer arranged a signal with them: ‘The one I kiss is the
man; arrest Him. Going at once to Jesus,
Judas said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed Him.”
“Jesus replied, ‘Friend, do what you came for.’”
Jesus knew why Judas was there, and still
called him “Friend.” He understands the
pain of a friend’s betrayal. He wants us
to cast our cares upon Him (Matthew 11:29), and He’ll bear our pain with us.
Take Home Nugget
David
deals with betrayal in Psalm 55. First
he calls out to God, thinking God’s abandoned him. Then he admits feeling the pain of rejection. Thirdly, David pleas for God’s judgment. Confidence in and reliance on God wrap up the
Psalm. These show that friend betrayal
pain is similar for every Believer.
The betrayer will feel betrayed at the
judgment.
J.D.
Griffith
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