Consider The Possibility

“And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?” (Mt 26:21-22 AV)

Had it ever occurred to you that instead of denying the possibility of betrayal, the first thing the eleven did was consider it a possibility?  This took humility.  Judas was the only one to ask as a means of diversion.  He asked separate and apart from the other eleven.  He asked only because everyone else did.  The eleven reflected on their hearts and had to admit it was entirely possible to betray the one they had come to love even though they had grown to love him.  The eleven would also include John.  It is said of John that he was the LORD’s beloved.  Even the one who loved the LORD the most considered it a possibility to betray the One he loved so deeply.  This begs the question.  Do we consider it a possibility?  Do we approach our relationship with the LORD as one that needs guarding?  Do we nurture our relationship with God so that it makes betrayal more and more unlikely?

Unfaithfulness in marriage does not happen spontaneously.  Adultery is a matter of incremental steps away from the one whom you married.  Rarely is it so spontaneous that it occurs on a whim while still madly in love with your spouse.  It just doesn’t happen.  For adultery to happen, the adulterer or adulteress needs motivation.  There is something the strange woman or unscrupulous man offers that the cheater thinks he or she needs.  There is a carrot on the end of a stick.  Knowing what that carrot might be and avoiding it keeps us from straying.  Proverbs is filled with advice to this end.  When the simple pass on and are taken with the strange woman, he is in the wrong place to begin with.  She decks her bed with perfume.  She offers her sacrifices to cover the sin they are about to partake of.  Then carrot is dangled and the simple pass on.  To think one is impervious to temptation is the start of a downfall.

This is the wisdom shown by the eleven.  There was nothing at that moment that would draw them away.  But they entertained the possibility that there might be something.  This takes great wisdom and humility.  I am impressed with the spirit of the eleven.  They were concerned!  That is half the battle.  To be concerned one might betray God is the start of watching out for that carrot on a stick.  To assume imperfection means we can strive toward it.  Woe to the saint who believes he or she has grown to a point where betrayal is impossible.  It is at that moment that betrayal becomes increasingly possible.