READ: PSALM 23:4; MATTHEW 26:69-75; JOHN 21:15-19

Do you know what it feels like to be betrayed? Maybe you’ve had a family member or a friend violate your trust or turn their back on you when you really needed them. Jesus knows exactly how you feel. He knows the pain of being rejected by someone you love.

In God’s Word, we can see that Jesus felt hurt and betrayed by those He was closest to. On the night before Jesus went to the cross, one of His chosen disciples, Judas, betrayed Him into the hands of the religious leaders who had been plotting to kill Him. Then, all His other disciples ran away, leaving Jesus alone to be brutally beaten and face an unjust trial. Then, right before Jesus’s crucifixion, Peter denied that he ever knew Jesus or had anything to do with Him—not just once, but three times. Talk about being hurt and betrayed!

Whenever we are hurt by someone, our initial reaction may be a desire to get revenge or punish them, but this is not the reaction we see from Jesus. In John 21, after Jesus rose from the dead, we see that Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him. Three times, Peter says he does, and each time the Lord tells him, “Feed my lambs…Take care of my sheep…Feed my sheep” (verse 15-17). In this way, Jesus restores Peter, and Peter goes on to continue to glorify the Lord and tend to other believers. This encounter reveals that Jesus had mercy on Peter and still loved him.

In the same way, Jesus has mercy on us and continues to love us when we sin against Him—after all, every sin we commit is ultimately against God (Psalm 51:4). Through Jesus’s death and resurrection, He forgives all our sins. So, whenever we are tempted to hate someone for their betrayal or wrongdoing, let us remember Christ’s continuing love and grace for us and also for this person, and may this love and grace overflow from us to them. And when we experience the unfairness and pain of betrayal, we can rest knowing that Jesus can relate to us better than anyone else. He hears our cries, and He comforts us in the pain. • Lydia Lancie

• What is usually your first reaction when someone wrongs you? How might God be inviting you to, instead, come to Him with your pain, rest in His love, and extend that love to others?

• Jesus is close to us in our distress. When someone has wronged us, forgiving them does not necessarily mean being in close relationship with them. If you have experienced a deep hurt, who is a trusted adult you could talk to about how to pursue healing and set up loving boundaries?

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:17-18 (NIV)