Luke 22:47-53

⁴⁷ While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him,⁴⁸ but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”⁴⁹ When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” ⁵⁰ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.⁵¹ But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.⁵² Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? ⁵³ Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”

History’s most remembered kiss …

There are people who hurt you because they want to do you ill and those who do so because they were previously hurt themselves. And there are people whose actions you merely perceive as hurtful because you misinterpret them. God calls us to love everyone of them and gives us the infallible example of Jesus Christ.

In today’s passage lots of people hurt each other physically or emotionally. The temple guards probably did not have a particularly gentle way of treating prisoners. But, at the same time, this was their job and income. Simon Peter cut off the servant’s ear, although a bit impulsively and in reaction to the arrest ─ it was due to his great loyalty to Jesus. Jesus immediately broke the vicious cycle of violence by healing the ear and telling the disciples to hold back.

And then there is Judas hurting Jesus with a kiss. I have heard of theories about why Judas betrayed Jesus. (One is that he had hoped for an earthly kingdom with a “proper” revolution and was deeply hurt by the seeming passivity of Jesus.) While we can only speculate, Jesus knows the reason. He sees behind the façade and instead of anger, I read only sadness in his question to Judas “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (v. 48).

When people around me do something that hurts me, I find it difficult to love them, in particular when this occurs in similar ways over and over again. What has helped me is to try and consider the reason for that person’s actions or whether I may be misinterpreting his or her motivations? Could he or she have misinterpreted something that I did or said? Is there an opportunity to talk about it?

Breaking such vicious cycles of misinterpreting another’s actions is difficult since talking about our hurts requires that we show vulnerability. I hope and pray that if there are such situations in your family or circle of friends that you will find the courage to be able to change and improve them.

Prayer

Dear God, thank you that you love me even though I continually hurt you and the people around me with my actions or my inactions. You also know of every instance when others have hurt me. Please heal our wounds and broken relationships. Help me to love my neighbors. In Jesus’ name. Amen.