Jesus and the Betrayers

Brad walked us through Jesus’s arrest to show that Judas was not the only betrayer in the scene: Peter, the crowd, the fleeing disciples, and ultimately all of us can see our own sinful self-protection and wandering in this passage. Brad reminded us that Jesus was not trapped or powerless—he could have stopped it—but he willingly submitted to the Father’s plan so the Scriptures would be fulfilled and sinners could be saved. In the middle of betrayal, Jesus still called Judas “friend,” and Brad pressed us to feel the shock and mercy of that word. We were invited to stop assuming we are above serious sin, to stop living in fear that our failure puts us beyond Jesus’s grace, and to come back to him as the friend who bore suffering, remained faithful, and gave himself for betrayers like us.