Jesus Speaks of His Betrayal

(Mark 14:12-21)

In this section we see Jesus eating his final Passover with the disciples. The disciples ask where they should prepare the Passover for him and we see him operate the word of knowledge advising them where to go. He tells them they will find a man carrying a jar of water and to follow him and when he enters a house to tell the owner that is where they would eat the Passover. Furthermore he says that this house would have a large upstairs room furnished and made ready for them.

Clearly there is no way anyone could have known and described these things except by the hand and insight of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was given this fore-knowledge and insight as to this matter as he did also on other occasions.

But then we see him announce at the table that one of those eating with him would betray him. I discussed this in part in my previous post and will emphasis again some of the key learnings from this sequence of events.

The disciples were quite sorrowful when they heard this and began to ask him, “Is it I?” Clearly none of them wanted to betray the Lord, except of course the betrayer, Judas Iscariot, and as such they were deeply troubled and concerned.

Now the important thing to see in this, which I mentioned last time, is that when Jesus said this, no one immediately turned and looked at Judas. No one had any idea who the betrayer would be which shows how effective Judas was at disguising his intentions. He did not stand out as the obvious choice for the the betrayer but was well hidden.

Satan is just like that too. He is not like the typical depictions in the art and fancy of man as a red devil with horns and a pitchfork. Instead he is cunning, deceptive and well disguised. When Jesus talks about wolves in sheeps clothing this is what he is talking about. The emissaries of Satan are well camouflaged, they blend in with those around them, they do not stand out for that would work against their evil deeds.

Consider this. If an evil person comes to you ranting, raving and with threats of violence and ill-will, you will be immediately on your guard. But if someone comes speaking words of honey, agreeable and smooth-talking, they can slip right under your guard and wreak havoc.

The devil is such a being; cunning, smooth-talking, deceitful and a teller of half truths. But also in these things he is destructive and focussed on the destruction of those who seek the Lord. Consider how he deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden. Smooth-talking and a teller of half-truths that deceived Eve into taking fruit from the one tree that she had been told not to touch. The devil used his deceitful ways to slip under Eve’s guard and condemn all of mankind to death as a result.

This is the message we get from the betrayal of Jesus. It was one of those closest to him that would turn against him, and the rest did not see it coming for the betrayer was so well hidden. But Jesus knew who it was for it was revealed to him. Likewise we are to be on our guard. Like the wolves in sheeps clothing who will be known by their fruits, we must watch and listen to see what is coming from those around us.

The words of the wolf will soon show what is in their heart. For it is from the heart that the mouth speaks. The thoughts and intentions of all people are what come through in their speech and although they may try to hide it, and will hide it for a time, eventually they will be seen for what is in their heart.

But to know and see where they stand we must come to a knowledge of the truth and seek the Lord diligently. If we are to stand against the evil these men would do we need to know the truth. If we are to stand we need to set our feet solidly on the rock of Jesus Christ and go to him when we need insight. Then we will see the betrayers as Jesus saw through the disguise of Judas and knew the source of his betrayal.