THE BETRAYAL

Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. — Matthew 10:4

Consider the WHO… the WHERE… the HOW… and the WHY of Christ’s betrayal.

The WHO— Judas Iscariot will forever be known as the one who betrayed Christ. He was Christ’s friend (Mt. 26:50). When one who is close to the Lord betrays Him, that inflicts far more damage than a thousand devils in the world ever could. The ones who can hurt you the most are the ones who are closest to you.

The WHERE— Judas betrayed Christ in the hallowed place of prayer—The garden of Gethsemane. How wicked when someone double-crosses the Lord at the “house of prayer!”

The HOW—And if that were not bad enough, to betray Him with a kiss is the height of hypocrisy. Hear the words of Jesus to Judas, “Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:48).

The WHY—What was the motive behind Judas’ act of betrayal?  MONEY! The Lord Jesus was bartered for 30 pieces of silver. As Paul said, “The love of money is the ROOT of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). The tragedy of it all is that many men today sell out the Lord for far less.

Christian, take heed.  Satan gets no greater pleasure than to see one who claims to be a friend of Christ to become a traitor to His cause.