Pondering the Offense

By Russell Thornberry

 During the Last Supper, after washing the feet of his disciples, Jesus made a stunning announcement that one of his twelve would betray him. The statement sent shockwaves through his disciples as they fearfully wondered who among them could possibly be the betrayer.

Jesus already knew it was to be Judas Iscariot, though he didn’t announce it. But he did something of great importance that goes largely unnoticed or misinterpreted by American Christians. Jesus broke off a piece of bread and handed it to Judas. When we read of this we might wrongly suppose that giving Judas the bread identified him as the traitor, but that wasn’t the purpose at all. In the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day, when the invited guests entered his home, the host offered a piece of bread to an individual to signify the host’s love for the recipient. When Jesus offered the bread to Judas it was a sign of his love for the man that he already knew would betray him even unto death. He forgave Judas even before he committed his fatal offense.

We tend to ponder how we will respond to those who offend us and often grade our response in accordance to our perceived motive of the offender, as if some deserve forgiveness and some don’t, at least not without due penance.

Jesus couldn’t make it any clearer. Our forgiveness of those who offend us is not a subjective matter. It is to be unconditional. Jesus died a horrible death to gain forgiveness for us all. And we are instructed to follow his example and forgive that we might be forgiven.

 

 

Comments

[Ria]

So true! We just sang that hymn in ccurhh today. We are asleep and embarrasingly so. We sink at being Little Christs' . Imagine how we will try to justify our lack of action and a basic refusal to follow the commandments that Jesus clarified for us during His time here. It will probably be something like, Uh, well, um, about that, I was too busy catering to and worshipping myself to notice or even allow the Holy Spirit to open my eyes to the needs of those around me. Sorry. The great news is God always extends mercy and grace to us with infinite second chances. And for those of us who are saved in Christ Jesus, He sees us through the precious blood of His Son. Amen for that! Kudos Dad for a beautiful devotional! I love you!