Jesus was born to set us free, and to restore our relationship with the Father.
Matthew 26:48 NASB
Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign,
saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him.”
Devotional
The suffering of the Lord Jesus has been heavy and bitter.
▪︎ Not only that He had to experience, that His love was requited to Him with hatred in the general sense of the word,
▪︎ not only that in His suffering He bore the curse of God against sin,
▪︎ but also that in that suffering He had to experience that from the circle of those closest to Him, a vile betrayal was born, must have been particularly painful to Him.
And then also the form in which it was cast.
Judas has undertaken to betray his Master and deliver Him into the hands of His enemies.
And how will he do that?
The chief priests and Pharisees were, on the one hand, too proud, and on the other, too afraid of the people’s reaction, to take the Lord captive themselves.
A band of Roman soldiers will be deployed for this purpose.
But to them Jesus is unknown. How then will they capture the right man?
Judas will point Him out to them. But not openly. He will do it through the friendship kiss. “Who I will kiss is the one, seize Him.” And so he does.
What an immensely heavy moment that kiss must have been for the Lord, for He knew what was happening here.
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