Mark 14:42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Not many guilty people are eager to see the police coming. They generally hide in order to delay their capture. We get the videos of police chases and hostage standoffs as proof that guilty people like to run from justice. But what about the innocent? How do they react to the presence of justice?
Movies and TV shows would tell us that the innocent surrender freely to the authorities. But there is a big assumption behind those surrenders: the belief that justice will prevail. But if you live in a society where justice is not a value that is valued, it becomes a very different story. Surrender means a frame up and a prison sentence.
Our text records the moment when Jesus is about to be arrested. He is with His disciples, having just spent the last few hours in His final training session with them. He has tried to prepare them for the very event that is about to take place. He is to be arrested and railroaded to the Cross.
Mark records this incredible moment. And Jesus’ attitude toward being arrested and the events that follow? He is eager to go!
I have to be honest. I am not sure I would be this eager. I have had to face people who oppose me, and I wasn’t very eager to do this. But I haven’t had to come face to face with someone who was going to betray me. And I certainly wasn’t there at the moment of my betrayal. They didn’t have the guts to do it to my face.
But Jesus welcomes the betrayal. Betrayal is the beginning of the end for Jesus. But the end is not the end for Jesus. His death only signals the beginning of the new life for humanity. His death opens the door for the rest of us. It is the “cup” that the Father has given him to drink.
When persecution comes to us in the future, are we going to be surprised? Jesus has told us it is coming. But are we ready for it? Will we welcome it with open arms? Will we embrace it as a honor few have received?
I think some of that hesitance will be the knowledge that we aren’t innocent of the charges. We are not Jesus. We have stumbled in our walk of faith. We have turned aside at moments. We haven’t been faithful.
But Jesus is innocent, pure, steadfast, faithful. He never stumbled in His commitment and actions to follow the will of the Father. And that is what makes Him so different from us, and so eager to face his accusers.
But we have been purchased, redeemed, bought back from the flea market of sin. We are no longer our own; we were bought at a price. We have received grace and mercy.
So we can stand and welcome betrayal. But only if we are innocent of the charges. If we are guilty, the our response should be the same. We should welcome justice. We should take our punishment like an adult, and not like a toddler or adolescent.
Jesus welcomed the Father’s will. Shouldn’t we welcome Jesus’ will in our lives?
The Arnold Journey 