Luke 22:21
“But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table.”
One of the most amazing verses in the Scriptures is the verse above. Jesus is at the last supper with His disciples, and He prophesied that one of them was going to betray Him. Not only did He prophesy who was going to betray Him, but He identified that He knew who they were and that they were sitting with Him at the table. The disciples wanted to know who this person was so that they could take care of him, but Jesus would not let the conversation go any further.
The amazing thing about Jesus knowing who this person was is that He did not try to destroy the person, nor would He allow the others to hurt him. Jesus knew very well that if He identified that person that Peter most likely would respond in a negative manner as was seen when he cut off the ear of the centurion. Jesus was not interested in this person being destroyed, but I believe that Jesus was more interested in trying to help him get saved even if He was going to be hurt. Even when Judas Iscariot came and kissed Jesus on the cheek He said, “Friend, wherefore art thou come?” (Matthew 26:50) When Jesus had the power to hurt Judas, He was still trying to help him turn things around so that he would not destroy himself. It did not matter to Jesus that He would be hurt, He was more interested in trying to help someone else from being hurt by their own sin.
Let me turn this on you and ask, what would you do if you knew who was going to hurt you? Would you respond the same way that Jesus did? I know this is a rhetorical question, but it is deserving of asking. Would you try to stop the hurt from happening or would you let it happen for the sake of having an opportunity to help someone? The attitude of the Saviour was that He was willing to be hurt for the sake of helping others. Instead of being spiteful, He was being helpful.
The best way to answer the previous question is by asking, who has deeply hurt you in the past and how do you treat them? If someone in the past has hurt you and you have not forgiven them, then how do you think that you would not try to destroy someone who has not yet hurt you but is about to hurt you? If you can’t forgive someone who has deeply hurt you in the past, then you definitely would not try to help someone who you knew was going to hurt you in the future.
Friend, the Christian life is about helping others get closer to Christ. Instead of spending your life trying to destroy those who have hurt you, you need to spend your days trying to help restore their fellowship with Christ. I am not saying that the hurt from someone in the past isn’t great, but I am saying that you will never be used greatly until you acquire the attitude of Christ’s forgiveness. It is those who are willing to be hurt so that others can be helped whom God has the confidence in to use to help others in a great way. God knows that if you spend your life helping others, then you will be hurt; however, if you have Christ-like forgiveness you will forgive them so their fellowship with Christ will be restored.
Is there anyone that would cause anger to swell in your heart if they walked into your presence? Let this devotional encourage you to forgive them. Only those who are willing to be hurt and are willing to forgive will be used by Christ to help others in the greatest way.