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T H I S W E E K LY M E S S A G E S P O N S O R E D BY T H E S E F I N E B U S I N E S S E S
BETRAYED
By Pastor Michael Bannon, CrossRoads Community Church of Naples
T
GUEST
CONTRIBUTOR
omorrow, March 15, is the Ides
of March, a date punctuated
in history by an infamous
betrayal. On this day in 44
BC, Julius Caesar, then emperor
of Rome, was stabbed to death by
a group of senators led by Marcus
Junius Brutus, a member of Caesar’s
inner circle. Apparently Caesar’s
ever-increasing power grabs had
made them nervous. Shakespeare,
in his play Julius Caesar, captured
Caesar’s dismay at the betrayal
with the Latin phrase, “Et tu,
Brute?” which in our vernacular
would be something like, “You
too, Brutus?” The very familiar
term “backstabber” probably owes
its origin to this betrayal and is
evidence of our universal dislike of
betrayal.
About a century after Brutus’ illfamed act, another betrayal took
place in the empire of Rome.
In the province of Judea, a man
known as Jesus of Nazareth had
been growing in popularity among
the masses for his astounding
miracles and authoritative teaching
on the Holy Scriptures. The Jewish
religious establishment was nervous
over his sudden rise in popularity,
and their nervousness grew to anger
as a growing number of his followers
had come to believe his claim to be
Israel’s promised Messiah, even the
Son of God. They deemed him a
blasphemer and sought a solution
to bring a permanent end to his
blasphemy. A solution presented
itself in the form of a betrayer.
Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve
men Jesus had chosen to be a part
CROSSROADS
COMMUNITY
CHURCH
Pastor Michael Bannon
Crossroads
Community Church
1055 Pine Ridge Rd.
Naples, Florida
www.CrossRoadsEFCA.com
of his inner circle. He served as the
group’s treasurer managing the
meager offerings given to support
Jesus’ ministry. It was known by the
others that he was dipping into the
funds. His career is marked by two
incidents. The first was his vocal
indignation over the extravagant act
of adoration a woman with a past
had lavished on Jesus. The second
incident is the one that cemented
his place in history; in exchange
for money, he offered to lead the
religious leaders to Jesus so they
could discreetly arrest him.
Unlike Brutus’ betrayal, which
ended Julius Caesar’s life and
career, Judas’ betrayal of Jesus
set in motion events that an
emboldened Apostle Peter later
preached was, “the definite plan
and foreknowledge of God.” Yes,
Judas’ act was an act of treachery,
and yes, Jesus’ arrest led to his
execution, but his execution was
followed by his resurrection from
the dead. The resurrection of Jesus,
Peter preached, proved that he is the
Holy One whom God assured He
would not let rot in the grave. God
sent his Holy One to earth to die
and then raised him from the dead;
to what end? The Bible teaches
that Jesus “was handed over to die
because of our sins, and he was
raised to life to make us right with
God,” and encourages everyone to
put their faith in him alone. For the
next three Sundays leading up to
Easter I will speak more about this
marvelous offer of God in a sermon
series entitled The Cross of Christ.
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