Christ was Betrayed so that We Betrayers Might be Received by God
In Adam, we all sinned, and in so doing betrayed the One who's table we have been feasting at. Yet Jesus chose to be betrayed by a close friend, to feel the sting of the curse of betrayal. His suffering was not an accident, and it didn't mean that God had rejected Him. Instead, it was because God had sent Him to suffer in our place so that we could be received by the God whom we have betrayed by our sin.
Knowing this changes how believers experience betrayal in their own lives:
- We can be moved to gratitude and love knowing that this is a taste of what Christ chose to suffer in order to redeem us who betrayed Him.
- When we experience the pain of betrayal in our own lives, we can feel the weight of the sin of betrayal and will not take it lightly - either toward God or toward those whom God has placed in our lives.
- We can also know that the God whom we cling to understands our sorrow because He too suffered in this way.
- We can also be confident that no matter who betrays us, because of the Cross, those who trust in Jesus and repent are welcomed at the Table of the One whom we betrayed by our sin.