And You Brutus...

We all know it, the very essence of betrayal. Shakespeare captured it in his classic work Cesar. The very fibre of humanity is betrayal. It started in the garden...Adam and Eve betrayed the command of God and the ripple effect is staggering. Shakespeare gives us a glimpse in the person of Brutus as he stabs Cesar, a friend, a trusted man in the inner sanctum. How does one deal with betrayal? Betrayal in Eden brought spiritual and physical death, but as relational creatures, how do we respond?

Well, there are two ways really. Either we harbor bitterness and let the betrayal sink us into the depths of despair, or we do what a Cesar in Rome would never do, we address it and forgive. Jesus did some amazing things as He walked the earth, and I sit in awe at how He handled betrayal. Both Peter and Judas betrayed Him, and He ever sought restoration. Judas, the son of perdition, would not be reconciled, but Peter, that is a different story. Peter followed the example of his father Adam, he turned his back on God, yet there God the Son stood, eager to extend the hand of brotherhood.

What Shakespeare seeks to show is the heart of man, but the Word of God is the antithesis to Cesar. Shakespeare gives us the heart of man, but the Bible gives us the heart of God. Here is the clincher...the heart of man has changed very little since Adam, or Shakespeare. Betrayal is still a staple of humanity. But the real question is, who is the worse sinner, the betrayer or the one who repays evil for evil? But redemption shows us the heart of God in color as it were. Man is so reluctant to extend forgiveness and redemption and yet God is so willing; even at the price of the Son.

Many sit on our right and left and we claim to love them, yet we betray everyday those whom we "love" and we harbor bitterness toward those who betray us. A river of hypocrisy flows, and yet we justify our own hypocrisy, giving good reason why our own bitterness is worth hanging on to. Bitterness is the cancer of the soul and as long as we keep it, we hang on to death.

A real issue is that we seek so quickly to mend a broken heart and I am not sure that a broken heart is designed to be mended or needs to be. In our natural state we are broken vessels that need the completion of Christ. Betrayal or bitterness never really describe what we have experienced, but rather they describe who we are without the constant intervention of Christ. Brutus is who we all are and will always be as long as sin is alive in our flesh. So, knowing that, what is the real pain of betrayal? It is the constant reminder that we are miserable failures who have no hope of keeping a standard. Why can we not one will ask...because we never really intend to and apart from Christ we simply cannot.