As I was reading through Matthew’s Gospel a few weeks ago, two things really stuck out to me in chapter 26 that I hadn’t noticed before:
First: in verses 30-35, we find Jesus prophesying that the disciples would all abandon Him that very night. We know this is a prophecy because Christ specifically quotes from Zechariah 13:7 to make His point. Now that, in and of itself, isn’t so odd: Christ often quoted from what we call the Old Testament. And He often quotes it in a way to show that His life fulfills the expectations for the Messiah.
What is odd though, is that Peter immediately jumps in, saying “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Setting aside the fact that Peter has insulted all the other disciples, did you catch what just happened here? Peter isn’t simply disagreeing with Christ. No, Peter is doing something far larger: he is denying the fulfillment of prophecy.
So what ends up happening? Whose words end up being true? In Matthew 26:56, we see all of the disciples – including Peter – fleeing from Christ at His arrest. What’s more, we find Peter at the end of the chapter (v69-75) further denying Christ, fulfilling another truth that Christ said to him. Peter’s response? “And he went out and wept bitterly.”
I do not write these words to mock Peter or say that we would be better, wiser, or more faithful than him. Quite the opposite, actually: just like Peter, we need a Savior not simply from our sins in some sort of generic sense, but we need a Savior from ourselves, even from our best selves. We need a Savior whose Words are true, even more true than our own. And we need a Savior who saves us when our boasts, when our best intentions, don’t add up. Christ is that Savior!
Secondly, in verse 50 we read of something that we might easily overlook or ignore: Jesus calls Judas a friend. It’s interesting that the only other times this word shows up, it is being used in similarly awkward and mixed situations (Matthew 20:13 and 22:12), and yet the word really does mean “friend.” I find it striking that Christ’s last words against Judas are not words of anger, or even of hurt. Instead, Jesus simply lets Judas do what was prophesied for him to do (v20-25). Make no mistake: Jesus also calls Judas the betrayer, but I don’t think we should read “friend” in verse 50 as being spat out, said sarcastically, or with venom.
Even knowing that Judas would betray Him (Christ is fully God, after all), it is never recorded that Jesus – at any point – treated Judas any way other than equal with the other disciples. If ever there was an example of “love in hard places” (to steal the title of Don Carson’s excellent book), this would be it. If ever there was a true and clear example of loving your enemies in a genuine way, this was it.
