Week 14: Day 1

Intro: Hi and welcome to Orbit, a short reflection to help you put God at the centre of your life from the team behind Satellites. My name is Blessing.

Each weekday we share a little bit of the Bible with you, give you a chance to pray and think about it and provide you with one practical way to put it into practice today.

Bible: Today's reading comes from John 18:2-5

Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’

‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied.

‘I am he,’ Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.)

Thoughts: Imagine being selected to be the captain of your soccer team during P.E. You handpick 10 members from your year group to be part of your team. While playing you pass the ball to one of your teammates and instead of attacking the opposing team, they begin to race in the direction of your goal. Fully knowing what they are up to, they take a shot toward your own goal.

Now you can imagine the betrayal you would feel! You trusted them to fight for the team and yet they fight against it. I don’t know about you but when I trust someone and they break that trust, it can really sting. Jesus knows exactly what it feels like to be betrayed, to have someone break his trust.

Now we pick up this story the night before Jesus dies on the cross. In an earlier section of John’s Gospel, Jesus predicts that one of his disciples, his close followers, one of his mates, one among the trusted 12 would betray him.

This disciple was a part of the team, he was one of the mates. He would have spent the last three years living with Jesus. He would have known Jesus’s love and compassion in action. He would have seen with his very eyes the great miracles he performed. We are told that this disciple is Judas.

Yes, Judas is the betrayer but there is another player behind the scenes. You see it says in John 13 verse 27 ‘Satan entered him.’ At the heart of Judas’s betrayal is the influence of Satan. You see Judas’s true coach is Satan. For thousands of years Satan has been opposed to Gods plan to save the world; in the garden of Eden he persuades Adam and Eve to betray God and in this garden, he persuades Judas to betray Jesus.

By ‘entering’ Judas, he thinks he has finally outmanoeuvred God. Satan thinks that by plotting to kill Jesus he would be killing hope for all humanity. And yet on the Cross, as Jesus dies, he would in effect be offering hope for all humanity!

As the story unravels, Jesus will be betrayed by Judas, he will be betrayed by Peter who will deny knowing him three times, he will be betrayed by the rest of the disciples who flee after his arrest, he will be betrayed by the religious leaders who were meant to be representatives of God, he will be betrayed by the crowds as they choose to send him to the cross…

And yet despite this avalanche of betrayal, dying on the cross, Jesus says ‘Father forgive them, they know not what they do’. Through that very Cross he extends forgiveness to all even his betrayers.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you that no force or entity in the entire Universe can stand in the way of your plan to save the world. Thank you for the cross and the forgiveness we can know. Amen

Silence: There's now just a few moments of silence for you to pray, reflect on these ideas, or simply sit and be still.

Action: Every day on Orbit we give you a simple practical challenge to help you put this passage into action in your life. Here's today's: on the cross, Jesus will forgive those that betrayed him. Are there people who have hurt you deeply or you feel betrayed by? This Easter week is an opportunity to ask Jesus to help you forgive them just as he has forgiven you.

Outro: That's it for today's Orbit. Thanks so much for joining us - we'll be back with another reflection tomorrow.