A Devotional Look at Matthew 26:48-50 / Click for Audio or Read the Whole Transcript
Matthew 26:48-50 (ESV)
48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” 49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.
This reading leading into Jesus’ passion is often easy to overlook. Maybe it’s because the story has been heard numerous times, or depicted in films and plays in such a break neck speed that we don’t pause to think about what is being said and done. It’s possible that even Judas, zealous to betray, didn’t pause for a moment to reflect on Christ’s words to him.
Judas came to betray the Christ, he was an agent of death, yet even with a great crowd with swords and clubs behind him he had no authority to do what he came to do until it was given to him.
Jesus tells us at the end of Matthew’s Gospel that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him, he even tells Pilate before being crucified that he has no authority unless it was given to him from above (John 19:11). Once again Jesus shows that even the powers of death and darkness cannot conquer him on their own volition. All things are subjected to Him as Paul states in Colossians 1.
Colossians 1:15-17 (ESV) 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
What I find the most surprising about Jesus’ statement is not the fact that he exerts his sovereignty over the situation, but rather that he calls Judas friend. Did you catch that? Jesus kissed with deception, refers to Judas not as an enemy or as a betrayer, but as his friend.
Christ did not come for the well but for the sick. He came to turn betrayers into friends, and followers. Perhaps Jesus saw something in Judas that not even Judas could see… A man made in the image of god… A man who needed redemption… In fact Jesus’ death on the cross was for the very people that we would call his enemies.
I ask you today to look at your neighbor with the eyes of Christ… Don’t look at them solely for their sins against you, but rather see through them. See what Christ saw, a soul in need of redemption, a future friend of and heir with Christ.
I will leave you with these word from the apostle Paul.
Romans 5:7-8 (ESV) 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
May His Grace and Peace abound to you…
