“Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”
Matthew 26:14-16 (NIV)
There are probably many stories that could be told about betrayal. I think everyone can relate to feeling betrayed at least once at some time by someone in a lifetime. Jesus was betrayed by His friend, Judas, which probably surprised all the apostles at the time. Betrayal is painful, but especially when it ends an innocent life. I heard a true story of betrayal yesterday, when a coworker shared his own family’s story. It occurred during the Holocaust, when Hitler started hunting down Jewish people everywhere. His regime alone was a great betrayal to many people in Europe. Jewish families were looking for ways to save their children, and the parents of two eight year old Jewish girls, who were first cousins, living in Poland, thought they found a way to save their daughters. One found a gentile woman who was willing to keep their little girl and hide her in her home, after receiving payment of a wrist watch and a certain amount of money. The other cousin found a different gentile family that was willing to keep their daughter in their home and hide her as well. The desperate parents could only hope for the best in an effort to save their daughters, not knowing whether they would meet again. By the time the war ended, and the Nazis were defeated, both sets of parents were killed in Hitler’s camps. In 1945, the Russian armies liberated Poland. One girl who survived by hiding in a family’s home, learned that both sets of parents were killed in the camps. She wanted to reunite with her cousin at the home she was staying in, and so Russian soldiers offered to take her there, and pick up her cousin. When she and the soldiers arrived, the woman denied ever knowing about any girl in her home. The girl immediately noticed and pointed to the wrist watch of her cousin’s, worn on the lady’s arm. The soldiers questioned her further, and she admitted to trading the girl to the Nazis for a two pound bag of sugar. She told them that Nazis went to every home offering all kinds of rare goods in exchange for the surrender of any hidden Jews, and so she turned the girl in for a bag of sugar. The coworker who shared this heartfelt story with me, was the son of the surviving girl, who was his mother, and lived to the age of 93. This all happened 78 years ago, but I couldn’t stop thinking of the nameless little girl who was so betrayed. She was just one of many nameless betrayed children, including the ones in the womb over the past decades. On Holy Thursday, the theme is the betrayal of Jesus, who was also an innocent victim, and though not a child, He was sold out for a price. His life was valued at thirty pieces of silver. People have the capacity to do great good, like the family that protected and saved one girl, or to do great evil, in regarding a girl’s life to be worth no more than a bag of sugar. I hope and pray that Jesus received into heaven, all the innocent children who were ever betrayed to death. Lord, we pray for those innocent lives today who are victims of some kind of betrayal. Help us to always defend the innocents who are near to your heart. We ask for your mercy and intervention in revealing your love to each one who is living today.