In his final days on earth, Jesus is betrayed by those closest to him. It begins with Judas who betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Then Peter, his most trusted disciple, betrays him out of fear. Then the people who had just a few days ago welcomed him into Jerusalem like a king, shout in rage that he should be crucified.
It is easy, sometimes too easy, for us to read these passages and look down on Judas, Peter, and the masses in Jerusalem. We shake our heads and think to ourselves, ‘We would never betray Jesus in such a way. We would never allow Jesus to be taken away and killed without a fight.’ And yet, who among us has not betrayed Jesus is one way or another. I know I have.
In seminary, we would joke that whenever we were traveling on planes or buses (anywhere you would find yourself next to a stranger for a long amount of time), we would never say that we were studying to become a pastor. Once let someone know that, you open yourself up to hours of trivia questions about scripture and church history or you are subjected to lectures from a disgruntled used-to-be church member about all the things the church is doing wrong. And so, it became second nature for us to answer the question, “So what do you do?” with the short reply, “I study theology”. But by doing this, are we in some way turning our back on Jesus? Have you ever done something similar? Have you ever turned you back on Jesus, your church, or your faith? In those moments, what is your motivation for doing so? Looking back, would you have handled the situation differently?