Getting Cheated On When You're Dead

Suggested Reading: John 13:1-12

To replace the superhero fan's Smallville addiction, the CW Network introduced a new series called Arrow. Arrow was the story of Oliver Queen, a billionaire playboy who gets stranded on an island for five years and returns to become the Green Arrow. During the five years when everyone thinks he is dead, Oliver's old girlfriend and his best friend become an item. Oliver finds out about their pairing in the course of his new superhero duties, but he refuses to let on. He continues to treat them just as he did before, and never holds their coupling while he was "dead" against them, even though he is still in love with his old girlfriend.

Jesus endured a similar, but much more difficult situation. In John 13, Jesus prepares to leave his disciples for the cross and gives them a demonstration of the attitude he wants them to have with one another. He strips down to his linens, and takes on the job of the lowliest servant, washing the disciples' feet. Naturally, Peter opposes allowing Jesus to act like a lowly servant but Jesus insists, making it a requirement of following him. Brash Peter immediately changes his tune, asking Jesus to wash not only his feet but his head and hands as well. 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." For Jesus knew who would betray him. This is what he meant when he said, "Not all of you are clean." After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down (John 13:10-12, NLT).

I want you to think about that for a minute. Jesus is on the verge of being betrayed and handed over to be tortured and murdered. Jesus knows who is going to betray him and cause him this pain, but he never lets on. A few verses later, Jesus tells one of the disciples that Judas will betray him, but Jesus says it in such even tones that none of the other disciples understand Jesus' pronouncement, thinking Jesus has simply sent Judas out on a task. Jesus knew exactly who Judas was and how Judas was going to betray him, but he never treated him any differently. Jesus washed Judas's feet just like everybody else and then served him a meal just like everybody else, even knowing the pain Judas was going to cause him.

While we want to be like Jesus, it is a whole lot easier to hold a grudge against the people who hurt us. Our natural reaction is to pull away from those people or to treat them like the scumbags we think they are. Sometimes, we even try to be nice to those people because we know we are supposed to, but we find it difficult and our kindness may come across as forced. Jesus sets a higher standard for us. Jesus treated Judas so well that even when Jesus told John that Judas would betray him, that idea simply didn't compute.

Who has hurt or mistreated you? Maybe a family member has gone behind your back. Maybe a friend has betrayed your trust. Maybe you were hurt by someone who is so focused on themselves they still haven't realized how badly they hurt you. You may or may not need to talk to the person who hurt you about the pain they've caused. But as a follower of Christ, you must treat them as well as Jesus treated Judas. How you treat your betrayer says much more about you than it says about them.

Late Night Cheating and Admirable Reactions

Suggested Reading: Matthew 1:18-25

Late night broadcast television is an horrendous animal. One of the most entertaining and simultaneously disgusting shows is a program called Cheaters. Each week, Cheaters chronicles the life of a couple, one of whom suspects the other of cheating. The show's private investigators follow and film the offending party, show the footage of the infidelity to the victim, and encourage a confrontation between the two while the cheater is with the "other" woman or man. Upon seeing evidence of their partner's infidelity, the people on the show, typically, have two distinct reactions: betrayal and fury. Not just anger, but full-throated, screaming-at-the-top-of-one's-lungs-while-trying-to-rip-the-other-person's-throat-out fury. That reaction is what makes the show immediately both disgusting and addicting. The victim's reaction is the reaction anyone who has ever been cheated on wishes they'd had the guts to have themselves, to give the offending party exactly what they deserve and to do it publicly so that everyone knows exactly what kind of person they are.

In that spirit, I have always thought one of the most overlooked people in the Bible was Joseph, Jesus' earthly father.  Joseph was the epitome of the Christmas spirit. Betrothed to a young woman who shows up pregnant by someone else, he has every right to have her publicly humiliated or possibly stoned. But even before an angel tells him that the child is a miracle of the Holy Spirit, while he still believes that she has betrayed her oath to him and slept with another man, he decides to have mercy on her and end their relationship privately.  He doesn't make a public spectacle of her. He doesn't humiliate her or try to hurt her. He has mercy on her.

Then the angel appears and tells Joseph that Mary is carrying God's child and Joseph does something equally admirable. "He married her but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son." (Matthew 1:24-25 HCSB). Most people cannot wait to share the wedding bed and consider the marriage incomplete (unconsummated) until that event takes place. Add that to the fact that Mary actually becomes Joseph's wife and he is within his rights to sleep with her. But Joseph chooses not to do anything that would later cast doubt upon who Jesus will become. He chooses to let the integrity of God's purpose overrule his own desires and needs. In everything, Joseph chooses to care about God's purpose and God's people more than himself or his own rights.

Both as a symbol of the Christmas Spirit and as an example for life, Joseph is an inspiration for us to draw from. Are we willing to give up our rights for the sake of God's kingdom? Are we willing to let mercy rule out when no one would blame us for taking revenge?  It's no wonder that God chose Joseph just as much as God chose Mary to watch over His Son. 

Lord, let me lay down my own rights for the sake of Your Kingdom. Let me display mercy and never seek revenge, even when people expect it of me.

Are You Being Harmed or Just Being Killed?

Suggested Reading: Luke 21:8-19

The first Matrix movie came to an unexpected but inevitable climax. The crucial scene was foreshadowed when Morpheus answered Neo's question about being able to dodge bullets by saying, "When the time comes, you won't have to." Still, when Neo opens the door and catches a bullet in the chest, it takes you by surprise. What is not surprising is when, a minute later, Neo rises from the dead and is then able to stop bullets in midair. Watching the movie, you knew it was coming, you just didn't know when. They managed to kill Neo but they couldn't really harm him. What I find intriguing is that we so easily expect something like this in movies but forget its real life parallels.

In Luke 21, Jesus is warning his disciples about the tough times ahead for all of his followers. He describes a time when some will experience intense persecution and be put on trial for their faith. Jesus says, "You will even be betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will kill some of you. You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but not a hair of your head will be lost." (Luke 21:16-18, HCSB).  I read the passage three times before it hit me what Jesus was saying. "They will kill some of you...but not a hair of your head will be lost." Huh?

Jesus is reminding us that the power to end our physical existence is not a power that does us any harm. No matter what people may do to us for our faith, nothing they do will have any lasting effect on us. We are covered by the blood of Jesus. We are insulated by the Holy Spirit. And it doesn't matter what people say to us, how they mistreat us, what hardships they make us endure, or even if they kill us. They can't really harm us.  If they kill us, we have the promise that we will rise again. If they demean and degrade us, we have the confidence that God values us at the life of His Son. If they persecute us, we know that God rewards us for our patience and endurance.  And we know that, just like with Paul, God is capable of reaching anyone.

If you suffer for your faith, don't be discouraged or lose hope. They may kill you, but they can't harm you.