Description of Station and brief reason the secondary images are included
Station 2 – Jesus, Betrayed by Judas and Arrested (Matt 26:47-56; Mk 14:43-52; Lk 22:47-53; Jn 18:2-12)
a. Joseph’s brothers betray him (Genesis 37:1-35)
b. Cain betrays/murders Abel (Genesis 4:1-8)
Reason – Joseph’s brothers betray him and sell him into slavery as Jesus was betrayed. In both situations the ultimate result was salvation for many (Genesis 50:15-21)
Cain betrays and murders Abel as Jesus was betrayed and murdered. However, Abel’s blood pleaded for vengeance (Gen 4:10; LSB 466:4) while Jesus’ blood pleads for our forgiveness (Heb 12:24)
Meditation
The world is filled with people who are two-faced. In fact, it is so common that we have all kinds of words to describe such people and actions. We might call them hypocrites, charlatans, frauds, back-stabbers, a Judas, and so on. So it is no wonder that we find betrayal of trust often depicted in the Bible. Indeed, the first betrayal of trust happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve betrayed Jesus’ trust. Then Adam betrayed Eve’s trust by blaming her. In just a few short years, Adam and Eve’s children carried on this ugly tradition, and amplified it, when Cain betrayed his brother Abel, and killed him. That was not the end of it. The righteous Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery.
So it comes as no surprise that Jesus was betrayed and that by one of his inner circle, one of the hand-picked twelve. At such times it might seem like things have gone terribly wrong. But, just as God was at work through the betrayal of Joseph, so he was at work in the betrayal of Jesus.
Joseph said to his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive” (Genesis 50). So Judas, Caiaphas, and company, meant evil against our Lord, but our Lord used their evil actions to bring about salvation for all who come to faith in him.
While we are natural-born betrayers, Jesus is the exact opposite. He has never, and never will, betray those who trust in him.
O Lord Jesus, may we always trust in you, even when our days seem dark and it seems like all the world has risen against us, for we know that you are our great Friend who sticks to us closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). Amen.