Reflection: The Renewing Prayer of Betrayal (April 5, 2012)

Maundy Thursday
Psalm 55:1-22; Mark 14:12-50

Michael Card's song "Why?" captures the essence of betrayal: 

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.

Judas was close to Jesus. He had walked with Him, served with Him, and lived with Him for three years. Judas was a trusted member of Jesus' inner circle. He was a friend. He had to be. Only a friend can betray a person.

Betrayal cuts deep. It wounds us like no other wrong because it is always done by someone whom we have loved and trusted. When we are betrayed we are sent reeling. Having been betrayed by one friend, we are unsure of whom we can turn to for comfort, support, and encouragement. One betrayal breeds fear of further betrayals. No one is above suspicion when we've been so intimately wounded and wronged.

King David was no stranger to betrayal. His experience with having a trusted friend turn against him is captured in Psalm 55, his prayer of betrayal. "If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend …" Devastated by being betrayed by his close friend, a fellow believer who had worshipped together with him at the Temple, David cries out to the Lord. He cannot turn to anyone else because of the fear of further betrayal. He knew that God would not betray him, that God could not betray him. God is incapable of the lies and deceit that foster betrayal. He is the only friend who cannot betray us.

Recognizing that God cannot betray us heightens the injustice of Judas' betrayal. Not only did he betray a friend, he betrayed the one friend that he had who would never betray him. But then, so do we. Our laments over the betrayals we suffer must be tempered by the ways that we have betrayed our friends, especially the one Friend who would never betray us. In answer to our prayers of betrayal — those done to us and those we do — God's renews us with His faithfulness.

Audio file of the homily based on this reflection.