Betrayed By Man

Through Joseph's story we get a glimpse of Jesus.

Genesis 37:2-4 This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing. 

3 Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph— a beautiful robe. 4 But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.

One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. 

---

We have learned a lot about God in the recent post in the book of Genesis, we have seen through the life of Jacob that God is in control and that he takes care of his people. We have seen God promise, prepare, prosper and provide for his people despite the mistakes that they make.

The blessings of the birthright were taken from Reuben because he sinned against his father but instead of the next oldest, the son that received the rights was the second to the last born son. Maybe Joseph was chosen because he is the first born son of Rachel, the wife that Jacob thought that he married at his first wedding, or maybe it was just because Jacob liked him more.

You may come to the conclusion that Joseph is a spoiled brat because of the favoritism, it seems that the fancy coat may have been a symbol of Jacob's decision to give the birthright to Joseph, Jacob has put his son in a situation that is very similar to the situation in his parents home. 

Favoritism destroyed Jacob's family and he was forced to run away from home because of it. Jacob was forced to run from Esau but Joseph would have to leave by force because his brothers were ruthless. It seems that his brothers were as immoral as the Canaanites that were around them. (Genesis 37:1-4) Joseph's willingness to inform his father about his brothers may have been the motivation for sending him to check on them while they were away from home. (Genesis 37:12-14)

It seems that Joseph is headed for greatness, he has the birthright, instead of the clothing of a shepherd he has the fancy coat that a ruler would wear and to top it all off he has God given dreams predicting his rise to a powerful position. What could go wrong?

Betrayed By His Family

Genesis 37:18-36

Joseph’s older brothers are a bunch of rowdy guys who slaughtered a whole village because one guy raped their sister. The Canaanite moms in the household, the maids of Rachel and Leah, may have had a very negative influence on all of the brothers. The family tree can be seem here.

God's people have always had a difficult time being in this world but not of it. You could speculate that the slavery in Egypt was God's way of separating his people from the Canaanites until the day of judgment when the Canaanites would be destroyed. 

How could God use his people to judge the Canaanites if his people looked just like them?

Betrayed By The World

Genesis 39:1-23

What looks like the obvious conclusion may be the furthest from the truth. In this situation, Potiphar thought that he had been betrayed by Joseph when in fact it was his wife that betrayed both of them.

Joseph was about eleven years old when his sister was raped. This may have been part of the reason that he had such an intense reaction to the advances of Potiphar's wife. Joseph knew the devastating effects that sexual sin could have and he didn't want any part of it.

Betrayed By A Friend

Genesis 40:1-23

The only thing that Joseph asked the cupbearer to do when his dream came true was to put in a good word for him. This guys life was spared and he couldn't remember the guy that predicted that it would happen.

Joseph was always the favorite, it make me think that he really wasn't a spoiled brat, he went from being a favorite in his father's house to being a favorite in Potiphar's house and then he became a favorite with the prison warden. Spoiled brats don't usually have that much success at making friends and influencing people. 

But having man's favor doesn't last when you are living for God. If Joseph had shared the values of his brothers or Potiphar's wife things would have gone much better for him from man's perspective.

Genesis 39:2, 21 The Lord was with Joseph

But even if man turned against him, Joseph knew that he was in the presence of God which resulted in receiving the blessings of God. Living for God proves to be the best way even if it means living in a situation that looks like you are being punished. The difficulty we encounter may make us question God's presence and we may forget that his presence is always accompanied with his blessings.

2 Timothy 3:12  Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Through Joseph's story we get a glimpse of Jesus. The dearly loved son was a shepherd of his fathers flocks, he was sent to his brothers that hated him, they took his robe and sold him for the price of a slave. The father suffered the loss of his favorite son because the son was wrongly accused. The son was placed with two other prisoners which included one that was saved and the other one lost.

I know you may be disappointed where you are. I know you may be unhappy where you are, but I want you to look beyond where you are and thank God for where He's going to take you.

-Tony Evans

Joseph would overcome it all to become God's man that was prepared for God's purpose but for now he is still in prison. This story bothers us because we want good things to happen to good people but the reality is that God is using the good and the bad to shape us and most importantly to accomplish his purpose.

Thank you Lord for your interest in me and allowing me to be a part of your plans. Help me to realize that you are working all thing for my good and for your glory.

The Final Days of Jesus: Friday

Jesus is betrayed, arrested and crucified.

Video: The Final Days of Jesus: Friday

RELATED ARTICLES

What Is Good Friday (gotquestions.org)

The Kiss

The extreme hypocrisy and deceit of Judas kiss.

John 18:4-9 Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to Him, so He stepped forward to meet them. "Who are you looking for?" He asked. 5 "Jesus the Nazarene," they replied. "I AM He," Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed Him, was standing with them.) 6 As Jesus said "I AM He," they all drew back and fell to the ground! 7 Once more He asked them, "Who are you looking for?" And again they replied, "Jesus the Nazarene." 8 "I told you that I AM He," Jesus said. "And since I am the One you want, let these others go." 9 He did this to fulfill His own statement: "I did not lose a single one of those You have given Me."

Luke 22:48 But Jesus said, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"

---

Jesus is in the garden praying as he waits for the betrayer to make his way there. He knows that he is coming and that his time is near, Jesus knew that stepping into Gethsemane was the first in a series of events that would lead to his trial and crucifixion.

The only one of the twelve that isn't in the garden is Judas but he will be there soon. For Judas it is time to stop wasting his life living a lie and deceiving the other eleven men in his small group. Those eleven guys are going to be in complete shock, none of them had any clue about what was in Judas' heart, none of them had a good reason to suspect Judas and they didn't even get it when Jesus told them in the Upper Room.

The guards were unnecessary!

Judas proves that he doesn't really know Jesus as he enters the garden with a large group of temple guards. (Matthew 26:55) There wasn't any resistance, the Shepherd willingly and boldly lay down his life for his sheep, the crowd could have been much smaller and they certainly could have left their torches and weapons at home.

Did Judas think they were going to have to search the garden or fight the other disciples? Did he think that Jesus was going to make a miraculous escape like he had done before? Would any number of soldiers make a difference if Jesus choose to get away?

The kiss was unnecessary! 

Nobody would think anything was wrong when Judas walked up and gave Jesus a kiss. It was common practice in their culture for a Rabbi to be greeted with a kiss as a sign of love and devotion but that was not the purpose of this kiss.

Even in the dark there wasn't any problem identifying Jesus, he didn't resist or hide but instead he calmly declared who he was and surrendered to them, there wasn't any chance that they would get the wrong guy.

Psalms 27:6 Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.

The extreme hypocrisy of the kiss is amazing. The deep emotions and loyalty that is felt between people that kiss is so opposite the intentions of Judas. The deceit is reminiscent of the trickery that occurred back in another garden. That snake that betrayed man in the Garden of Eden is at work in Gethsemane and will continue until God makes him stop forever.

Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.

It is easier to betray Jesus than we like to admit When we pretend to know and love the Lord and choose our own way we are betraying the closest friend that we could ever have. If your attitude toward Jesus is wrong, if you feel like he isn't treating you fair or if you fail to live up to your Sunday morning promises later in the week then you are betraying Jesus.

Judas proves that we can be busy in ministry and in small group and even have the best Bible teacher but it is not enough if it doesn't change your heart. Judas shows us that the desire for personal pleasure and financial gain can lead us to question Jesus and compromise our love for him.

Why? By Michael Card
Why did it have to be a friend Who chose to betray the Lord Why did he use a kiss to show them         That's not what a kiss is for	Only a friend can betray a friend A stranger has nothing to gain And only a friend comes close enough To ever cause so much pain

Real Christ Followers

The imitations can be so close to the real thing that you might be surprised.

 

Matthew 7:20-23  Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.  21  "Not everyone who calls out to Me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter.

22  On judgment day many will say to Me, 'Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and performed many miracles in Your name.'  23  But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God's laws.'

---

In my previous post "Living A Lie" we saw that all of the disciples were deceived into thinking that Judas was one of them. Everyone in the room at the Last Supper was shocked except for our Savior, Satan had produced such a superb counterfeit Christ Follower to the point that the eleven guys that Judas was in a small group with didn't have a clue.

Christianities true value can be seen in the number of cheap imitations that there are. Counterfeiters do not waste their time producing pretend copies of something that isn't real and very valuable, a lot of effort goes into making false cash or precious gemstones or even imitation of expensive medication but nobody is making fake versions of cheap things with little value.

That's one of the ways that Satan proves to us that Christianity is valuable and real. Other religions do not have a problem with fake versions, nobody has ever seen a false Buddhists or a fake Hindu, I know that Christ and his teachings are extremely valuable because of all of the effort that Satan puts into making counterfeits.

You even heard it from our president, “Well, there were Christians a thousand years ago who slaughtered Muslims.”  Those weren't Christians, by the way, those were false Christians who belonged to a false Christian system, but that’s the kind of strategy that goes on all of the time surrounding Christianity.

-John MacArthur "Traits of a True Believer"

There is a lot of talk about being a Christian, many funerals do the injustice of labeling someone a Christian when their isn't any real evidence, what a tragedy that is! The people that attend such a funeral will understand a false gospel and feel comfortable about their eternal relationship with God.

So how do we know who the true Christians are?  Who are the true followers of Christ? If Judas was able to trick eleven guys in his small group then how can we be sure about our own small group?

It is difficult for us to know because the heart is where the real change has to take place. Anybody can put some effort into changing the outside, I can follow the rules and do what is expected of a Christ follower for long enough to fool anybody, but real transformation comes from the heart.

Ezekiel 36:25-27  "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols.  26  And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.  27  And I will put My Spirit in you so that you will follow My decrees and be careful to obey My regulations.

A new heart and a new spirit has to come from God, the inner spiritual transformation has to work its way out to the outer physical transformation, too often we try to change our exterior with the hopes that it will sink inward. The Bible tells us that is the wrong direction.

Heart Issues: Acts 15:9, Romans 2:29, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 2 Timothy 2:22, Hebrews 10:22

From the inside a new creation comes about from nothing, just as the whole universe was created by God from nothing. The new creature looks outwardly toward Christ instead of inwardly toward self. The old things are replaced with new things that are full of life and the glory of God.

Empty Words: Psalm 55:21-23, Proverbs 26:23-25, Ezekiel 33:31-33, James 2:15-16, 1 John 3:18-19

We have all heard the parable of the two builders that built their own homes, they might have the same architect, same floor plan and they were probably in the same neighborhood because they both weathered the same storm but without a solid foundation they will have drastically different outcomes.

Spiritual activity without a proper foundation is the easiest way to seem like you have been changed by the gospel, you don't have to dig or pour a footer, you just pick a place and start building, your house may resemble the true believers around you but without the proper foundation it is all going to fall. (Matthew 7:20-27)

Examine Yourself First: 1 Corinthians 11:31, Matthew 7:4-5, Romans 2:1,

Real followers of Jesus have a new birth, a new heart and new desires, they are Spirit led and obedient to God's Word. Real followers of Jesus are strangely different, what they hated before are the things that they love, going to church and studying God's Word are no longer a chore. All of the stuff the world loves is seen as garbage and so they strive to die to their old way of life.

Ye call Me Master and obey me not,
Ye call Me Light and see me not,
Ye call Me the way and follow me not
Ye call Me Life and desire me not,
Ye call Me wise and acknowledge me not,
Ye call Me fair and love me not,
Ye call Me rich and ask me not,
Ye call Me eternal and seek me not,
Ye call Me gracious and trust me not,
Ye call Me Noble and serve me not,
Ye call Me mighty and honor me not,
Ye call Me just and fear me not,
If I condemn you, blame me not.

It may sound like a long checklist of things to look for in someones life but it can all be summed up with the word love. It's that thing that Jesus said that we should be known for and since the world is pretty good at love that means that we will have to be really extreme at showing love in order to be set apart from the rest. (John 13:35)

These are the clues that somebody is a real follower of Christ. They have experienced a new birth, received a new heart, and enjoy new desires. All of these things make them a totally different person than they used to be.

Plenty of "good" people will end up in hell for eternity without God. Living a moral and descent life may fool your pastor, your friends or even your small group but it isn't going to fool God.

Your good works, church attendance, baptism, Bible study or prayer time isn't going to keep you from hearing Jesus say "I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God's laws."

Living A Lie

Judas wasted his life pretending to be a disciple.

 

John 13:1-2  Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to His Father. He had loved His disciples during His ministry on earth, and now He loved them to the very end.  2  It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

John 13:10-11  Jesus replied, "A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you."  11  For Jesus knew who would betray Him. That is what He meant when He said, "Not all of you are clean."

John 13:25-27  So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, "Lord, who is it?"  26  Jesus responded, "It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl." And when He had dipped it, He gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.  27  When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, "Hurry and do what you're going to do."

---

The last Passover meal that Jesus would be around for was full of surprises, first there is the way that the location was revealed to the disciples (Luke 22:7-14), then there was Jesus taking on servants work and washing dirty feet during the meal, and then the greatest of surprises is that one of the disciples is going to betray him.

The news that someone would betray Jesus was a complete shock and nobody could say that they had a good reason to suspect Judas or anybody else. Judas has covered his real character so well that there was only one man that knew who he really is.

Judas must be tired of living a lie and deceiving the other eleven men in his small group. The rest of the guys are going to be in complete shock, none of them had any clue about what was in Judas' heart, none of them had a good reason to suspect Judas and they didn't even get it when Jesus told them in the Upper Room.

It is important to note that Judas was not a true believer; he was a hypocrite. He had never believed in Jesus (John 6:64-71), he had not been bathed all over (John 13:10-11), and he had not been among the chosen ones whom the Father gave to the Son (John 13:18; 17:12).

-Warren Wiersbe, "BE" Bible Study Series

There would be a lot of trouble if anybody knew, Judas was protected by the fact that it was so well hidden, I am sure that somebody would have turned on Judas in order to protect Jesus.

If I had this information about someone that was going to harm me then I wouldn't stay quiet about it and I certainly would not serve them by washing their dirty feet or allowing them to sit at my dinner table. Jesus kindness in serving Judas was the last opportunity to soften his hard heart.

Have you considered what it would be like to be a hypocrite living everyday with Jesus? Judas has seen Jesus know a man's thoughts on more than one occasion so he must have been troubled with the dread that Jesus knew that he was a fake and that he would divulge his real character.

John 6:63-64  The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe Me." (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn't believe, and He knew who would betray Him.) 

Judas teaches us that sinners need more than a good example to be saved, Judas had the best mentor he could have possibly had, everything that he had seen and heard should have given him a very awesome testimony but instead he has a very sad one.

Judas teaches us that we will encounter people that are not saved in the most religious circumstances. In every church there is a Judas that is so cleverly disguised that we will never know their true identity. Don't forget that Judas was plugged into a small group and he fooled all of the guys in his group with the exception of Jesus.

Wheat or Weeds

Matthew 13:27-30  "The farmer's workers went to him and said, 'Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?' 'An enemy has done this!' the farmer exclaimed. 'Should we pull out the weeds?' they asked. 'No,' he replied, 'you'll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.'"

As long as we are in this world we will be forced to live with weeds, they are so easy to sow that the enemy just broadcast the seed and then he "slipped away" without tending to them. (Matthew 13:25) The enemy knows how to produce very convincing counterfeits and he knows that it is quite a challenge to know the difference.

We will always have deceivers and hypocrites in our midst, even in the church, and we will have to be patient to determine the difference. It will be difficult to know the difference until the fruit is produced and it is ready to harvest (Matthew 7:15-20)

Throughout church history there have been attempts to get rid of these sinful people but the trouble with that is they are never fully eradicated and the true wheat is often damaged in the attempt. The bride of Christ must keep herself pure and get rid of obvious false teachers but we must be careful and we must realize that we cannot possibly get rid of all of the weeds without damaging the wheat and harming its ability to produce fruit.

God is sovereign and he will not be fooled, we should examine our own hearts before God, we can fake it and fool all of our friends but the cost is extremely high if we reject the Light of the World and step out into darkness. (John 3:18-21, John 8:12)

The Kingdom Of Darkness Takes Control

The battle is on, which kingdom do you belong too?

Luke 22:47-53 But even as Jesus said this, a crowd approached, led by Judas, one of his twelve disciples. Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss.

48 But Jesus said, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, “Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords!” 50 And one of them struck at the high priest’s slave, slashing off his right ear.

51 But Jesus said, “No more of this.” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests, the captains of the Temple guard, and the elders who had come for him. “Am I some dangerous revolutionary,” he asked, “that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? 53 Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”

---

Jesus has been praying to God in the Garden of Gethsemane while his disciples fell asleep, he asked God for a plan B, if there is any other way then lets put it into action. Jesus returned to where he left his disciples and while he is talking to them about their inability to stay awake and pray, they are interrupted.

An armed guard comes to get Jesus in the middle of the night, they wouldn't dare take him away while he was teaching in the synagogue, the Pharisees couldn't take a chance on the crowds reaction.

The kingdom of darkness is given authority to take Jesus and do what it wants with him, the devil and all of his demons are ready to put an end to Jesus, Jesus acknowledged what was happening in today's scripture:

"But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”

The kingdom of darkness was allowed to take the Prince of Peace and brutally torture and kill him for our benefit. Jesus disciples thought about defending Jesus and Peter even grabbed a sword and struck one of the guards but once they realized that Jesus wasn't going to rise up against the guards and establish his kingdom they hit the road.

We Have Been Rescued

Colossians 1:12-14 Always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

The kingdom of darkness is still wreaking havoc on the earth, it is a mighty kingdom but God's children do not have to worry about it's power, the Apostle Paul reminds us that Jesus has rescued us and freed us from the power of sin.

Thank you Lord for the great rescue, thanks for making me your child and for allowing me to live in your Kingdom. I want to let my light shine for you.