Contract of Betrayal

(Luke 22:1-6)

The scribes and Pharisees were seeking an opportunity to condemn Jesus and put him to death, but they found none. They wanted to arrest him but were unable as they could not lay hands on him for fear of the people. They were afraid that during the days as Jesus preached in the Temple if they arrested him the people would turn on them violently.

So in true form of all who seek to do evil they sought to capture him under cover of darkness and somewhere that the people would not be able to defend him. They took out a contract of betrayal that would be a contract of blood. And that contract was under the power an direction of Satan himself.

The Betrayer

When people speak of the betrayer of Jesus they normally refer to Judas. So much so that even today those who are seen to betray another are called a Judas.

But in this section of scripture we see who the real betrayer and the motivator and architect of Jesus’ betrayal. Verses 2-3 of this section tell us, “Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.”

Judas was the vessel used by Satan to betray Jesus, but the betrayer was in truth Satan himself. And this is not surprising for Satan is called by many names including, “… the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.” (Revelation 12:9) And, “…the accuser of our brethren …” (Rev 12:10)

Satan is the great deceiver and betrayer of mankind. He was the one in the Garden of Eden that deceived and betrayed mankind when he deceived Eve and subsequently Adam. It is because of Satan’s deception that sin was born and man came under the power of sin. And he continues down to this day to deceive and use his people in his lies and deception as we see in Judas’ case.

The Opportunist

Judas was the opportunist. As one of the inner circle, Jesus’ twelve disciples, Judas had access to Jesus that others did not have. He was the one who had the opportunity to betray Jesus for he knew where he went and where he lodged and could lead the enemies of Jesus to Him.

Satan knew this and entered Judas to create the contract of betrayal that would ultimately lead to the death of Jesus. In Judas Satan found opportunity to deceive.

The Plan of God

What Satan did not reckon on though is that his actions to remove Jesus was what set man free. It was through the death and resurrection of Jesus that we now can find freedom when we accept Jesus by faith and enter into His death and resurrection through baptism.

The contract of betrayal that the chief priests made with Satan through Judas to remove the Lord actually brought about their own downfall. What was a contract of betrayal came to be the pathway for life for mankind. Jesus came to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29)

The priests did not realise it was necessary for the Christ to die so that we could be made free. And so they fulfilled the plan of God that led to our release from sin and our reconciliation with God. Through Jesus death we have the ability to be restored to the state that existed before mankind fell from God’s grace in the garden. All we need to do is to seek the truth of this matter and find that pathway to life.

(Photo sourced from stock.xchng)

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