The New Covenant
The Tip of the Iceberg Written By: Kim Whipkey
After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival , or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
John 13: 21-30
I suppose I’ve seen a few too many movies, because when I hear the word betrayal, I’m immediately transported to the climactic scene in a Shakespeare tragedy, Julius Caesar perhaps. In the shadowy lighting I can hear the harrowing music begin to swell as the plot to betray the main character plays out in a violent manner. The music reaches the crescendo just as Brutus, the supposed friend of Caesar, strikes the final blow. The music slowly fades to a mournful dirge as a spotlight focuses on Caesar as he locks eyes with his betrayer and utters his final line “Et tu, Brute? Then fall Caesar.” Then the music falls silent and the scene goes dark.
Yes, I know I’m a little over dramatic – I have a pretty good imagination- but my mind always goes to the big, intense scene of betrayal. Truthfully, though, that final act, while often shocking, is only the tip of the betrayal iceberg. Before that act, a thousand betrayals of thought, word, and deed build the iceberg below the water’s surface. It is just that we can only view the betrayal once it erupts above the water.
I think this is what we see playing out in these verses. Judas’ betrayal of Jesus didn’t begin in this instant, but had been started in the months and maybe even years he spent serving as Jesus’ disciple. I can only imagine it started as a thought, and one thought turned into another, and then thought became word, and eventually the word became deed. Jesus, being Jesus, would have known Judas’ thoughts, words, and deeds and would have seen the iceberg building beneath the surface, but the other disciples wouldn’t have seen it until it erupted.
We may think that we wouldn’t betray Jesus, and we may even believe that we wouldn’t deny him, but we are each sinful creatures that often act out our sinful natures, even when we don’t intend to do so. As Paul tells us in Romans 7: 21-25, “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
So, how do we overcome our sinful nature, and refuse to betray Jesus? The simple answer is we don’t. Jesus does. As Paul continues in chapter 8, verses 2 and 3 “Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.” We need to lean on Jesus, and the ransom he paid for us, learning to let him capture each evil thought before it can turn into another thought, and before thoughts turn into words, and words into deeds. Only when we accept Jesus as our Savior and allow the Spirit to dwell within us can we prevent the iceberg of betrayal from forming under the surface. “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” V 6. I encourage you to continue reading the life affirming words in Romans 8.
Father, help us to seek you, and to seek your Son in all that we do. We are powerless on our own to combat our sinful natures, but you have already won the war. Help us to lean into you and allow you to dismantle the icebergs we are building below the surface. Give us minds that are governed by the Spirit, minds of life and peace. Amen.
