Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
Matthew 26:49-50 NIV
Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”
Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him.
After sharing a last meal with his disciples, Jesus went to a quiet place to pray and prepare for the cross and the agony that awaited him there. But before the cross came his betrayal.
It is easy for us to paint Judas as a villain. And there is no way to soften what he did, betraying Jesus for a monetary gain. But note how Jesus addressed him. He called him friend.
They had spent several years together. Jesus had taught him, trusted him to handle the group’s finances, and sent him out on mission trips. He was a part of the Twelve, those closest to Jesus who were being cultivated to carry on Jesus’ mission after he was gone. They were friends.
Yet here, when Jesus most needed the support of his friends, Judas betrayed him, stabbing him in the back and leading a posse to arrest Jesus and deliver him to the Jewish authorities. Even though Jesus knew Judas would betray him, this had to hurt, just adding to the agony of that night and the coming day.
Psalm 55:12-14 describes how Jesus must have felt. Jesus’ calling Judas “friend” might well have been a reference to this passage.
Indeed, it is not an enemy who insults me, / or else I could bear it;
Psalm 55:12-14 NET
it is not one who hates me who arrogantly taunts me, / or else I could hide from him.
But it is you, a man like me, / my close friend in whom I confided.
We would share personal thoughts with each other; / in God’s temple we would walk together among the crowd.
