Joseph Lewis D’Silva
Almost all of us have been betrayed at one time or the other; or perhaps, we ourselves have betrayed our near and dear ones by upsetting their hopes; or, in some situations, we might have not have directly contributed to the betrayal; but have jointly with others, formed a planned setting for betrayal.
People betray when they are captured by money lust; caught by pride; curved by envy; clasped by anger; confined by jealousy, and so on.
Betrayal comes in many forms: – sadistic gossip; spreading forceful lies or scattering falsehood, which may also be experienced as betrayal. Benedict Arnold is a great example who betrayed his country; he once was a general for the American Army, but changed sides to the British Army and became one of the traitors of America. Benjamin Franklin wrote: “Judas sold only one man, Arnold three millions.”
Yes, we hear about Judas Iscariot, in the Bible. He was gripped by the greed of money; so, he betrayed Jesus for 30 coins.
God has given everyone of us freedom to choose the good and reject the bad. God knew that Judas would betray Jesus with a kiss. But God did not touch Judas’ freedom.
Nowadays, Judases have multiplied. They amass paltry riches, land and buildings, silver and gold, which are lasting only until life lasts. Therefore, all who have played, and are playing, the role of Judas, anxiously want to know whether Judas was forgiven by Christ for betraying Him.
Judas was sorry after the betrayal. His mind gave him no peace. So, throwing down the 30 pieces of silver into the temple, he went and hanged himself. The remorse of Judas was useless because he went and hanged himself. There is no religion that supports suicide.
According to the Bible, forgiveness comes as it came to the repentant thief on the cross for the following reasons: Firstly, the thief was sorry and admitted his wrongs and saw justice in his own punishment saying to the other thief: “We indeed justify; for we receive the reward of our deeds.” Secondly, he saw sinless Christ who was suffering that sinners might be forgiven. Therefore, said to the other thief: “But this man hath done nothing amiss.”Lastly, he believed that Christ was God and saw His kingdom beyond the Cross. He had faith in Christ, and so he asked Jesus, “Lord, remember me in paradise.” In the Lord’s Prayer it is said: “forgive us our sins, just as we forgive those who have sinned against us.” That is, we have forgiven others and will do likewise in future. Although God is always ready and willing to forgive us, He requires from us, repentance, faith in Him and forgiveness of others.
Betrayal is one of the most painful human experiences when we discover that someone we trusted has deeply hurt us; even Jesus said, “… 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.”
