Betrayal
ISAIAH 50:4–9; PSALM 69; MATTHEW 26:14–25
Judas accepted thirty pieces of silver to hand Jesus over to the Jewish authorities. Betrayal is the violation of a person’s trust or confidence. It comes from those you relate to.
David was no stranger to betrayal: “If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. 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” (Psalm 55:12–14). The closer the relationship, the greater the pain of betrayal.
We betray friends because of excessive ambition, envy, greed, or hatred. There are those who still accept money only to offer their friends or relatives to bandits or kidnappers. Are there no husbands who betray their partner? Or wives who betray their husbands?
Jesus personally experienced the agony of betrayal. Judas’ treacherous betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver is seen as the most heinous deception in history. (Matthew 26:15). Even my own familiar friend, in whom I put my confidence and who consumed my bread, has turned against me. (Psalm 41:9; John 13:18).
However, Jesus refrained from getting vengeful, furious, or bitter. We betray Jesus when we don’t stand for the truth. In the first reading, Isaiah speaks about the suffering Messiah and encourages us to stand for the truth regardless of the persecutions that we face.
Let us pray
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, though in our weakness we fail, we may be revived through the Passion of your Only Begotten Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
