Challenged Intent

May 3

Betrayal is a difficult thing with which to deal. An outright attack against us is perhaps easier to accept than one that comes through subterfuge. The thief lying in wait in the night is more readily recognized as a criminal of ill intent than is the embezzler, but the work of the latter can accrue costs the former cannot.

The overt thief takes only what is immediately at hand and the amount of the loss is easily calculable. The embezzler sustains his theft over time and much of what he steals must be tabulated in entities that go beyond the monetary—what he takes is our trust, our honor, our confidence to relinquish our significant resources to the care of another.

Jesus fully understood this deeper betrayal. Although it is told to us in the scriptures that Judas was “…the keeper of the bag…” (John 12:6) and had been stealing from the resources of the Lord and His disciples, the theft the betrayer perpetrated extended far beyond that of tangible resources. Judas was preying upon the trust Jesus had invested in him, in his integrity, which Jesus was allowing him to evidence through honest management--or to betray through theft.

So, when Jesus said in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation, for, indeed, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak,” He was expressing His perfect understanding of the frailty of human nature and its bent toward succumbing to its own foibles. Our Lord was saying that even when it is ones desire to do right, the lure of sin—whether betrayal or its myriad manifestations—will challenge the intent of fallen man.