You will all fall away... I am with you always.

Matthew 26:14-46 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. ¹⁶ From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.

¹⁷ Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸ And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” ¹⁹ The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

²⁰ Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. ²¹ As they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” ²² Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?” ²³ And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. ²⁴ The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” ²⁵ And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself.”

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” ²⁷ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; ²⁸ for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

³⁰ After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

³¹ Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’ ³² But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” ³³ But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” ³⁴ Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” ³⁵ Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.

³⁶ Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. ³⁸ Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

³⁹ And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” ⁴⁰ And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? ⁴¹ Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴² He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” ⁴³ Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. ⁴⁵ Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

Did you ever wonder why it was that Judas betrayed Jesus? I am not so much talking about the motive, many people have speculated as to why Judas may have betrayed Jesus. Was it for the money? Was he, like so many others hoping Jesus would rise up as a political leader and deliver the Jews from the oppression of Rome? We are not told in scripture and I am not sure that any other historical account deals accurately with the motive of Judas. What I wonder is more from a practical perspective, why was it necessary that anyone would betray Jesus? It’s not as if He was unknown and unrecognizable. Jesus was recognized by people everywhere He went. By the time Judas arranged to betray Jesus, Jesus had been speaking in the temple every day for several days. He had been greeted by a multitude of people shouting and praising Him just days earlier. Surely the religious leaders needed no one to point out who Jesus was. The text says that it was Judas who initiated the deal, approaching the chief priests, saying:    “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?”    Whatever their reasoning, the chief priests did not hesitate, they responded by weighing out thirty pieces of silver to him.

Could it be that Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was not so much a necessity from a logistical standpoint as it is another confirmation of the scripture which says:  we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.(Hebrews 4:15) Jesus tells His followers:   “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.” (Matthew 10:21-22)     Could it be that at least in part Judas betrayed Jesus so that we would have the confidence and the assurance to know that Jesus truly will never ask us to do anything that He has not done, endured and made a way through, on the cross. One of the most difficult things we go through as Christians is dealing with the hurt and betrayal we experience at the hand of those who are closest to us. Jesus own family had also gone against Him. In Mark 3:20-21 it says:  And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” 

Regardless of how deeply we have been hurt by others, whether family, friends or fellow believers, we can take some comfort knowing that Jesus, our Lord and our Savior has experienced hurt and betrayal beyond what any of us have. Neither I, writing this, nor any of you, reading this have been betrayed to the point of death.  Additionally, it was not just Judas who left Jesus down. The text says:   Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.       We all know that what Jesus said was true. In the darkest time of His life, He was left to go through it on His own. On the cross, for the first time ever, Jesus felt the anguish of separation from the Father. Matthew 27:46 says:   About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"    Because Jesus, who knew no sin, took on Himself all the sins of the world, He was separated from God. In that moment on the cross He experienced something we never need to, the separation from God caused by sin. Shortly after Jesus cried out to the Father, His last words were: "It is finished!" (John 19:30)    Because of the finished work of the cross, because Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself, that we would be redeemed, reconciled and restored, we never have to experience the anguish of separation from God. We have God’s promise which says:  "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." (Deuteronomy 31:6) and the promise of Jesus, who says:  “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for Your word which gives me confidence and comfort knowing that there is nothing that I might face that You have not already overcome on the cross. Forgive me that I would be counted among the betrayers of those who abandoned You, but You will never leave me. Thank You for the finished work of the cross; Your victory given to me.      Amen.