Betrayed!
Meditation for the week of April 29, 2012
2 Corinthians 13:12 Greet one another with a holy kiss
Luke 22:48 But Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"
2 Samuel 15:5 And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him (Absalom), that he would put out his hand and take him and kiss him.
2 Samuel 20:9 Then Joab said to Amasa, "Are you in health, my brother?" And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.
Psalms 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
Paul admonishes the Corinthians, the divided church, to greet one another with a HOLY kiss. This was probably meant to be a heart-felt kiss on the cheek and in public. While this was a customary and usual part of his closing comments in many of his letters, I think it was a particularly necessary charge to this divided church. Can you imagine anyone sincerely and honestly kissing someone that they simply don’t respect and love? Normally this would be hard to do, but there are people in the Bible who used kisses to deceive and manipulate.
In our culture, we generally don’t publicly kiss those who are not our relatives and even then it is unusual for men to kiss men. However, if we followed the instructions of Paul literally we would likely solve a lot of our problems with grudges in our gatherings for worship. How can we honestly tell the Lord whom we have not seen with our mortal eyes that we love Him, if we can’t tell those with whom we break bread that we love them?
Because we all tend to want intimate expressions of special love, whether it be a kiss or a handshake or a word of encouragement or an invitation to coffee or dinner, we are easily manipulated by those who say that they love us but who are only using us. Kisses in the Bible were often used to deceive people, particularly when the kiss was between men. Judas used a kiss of affection for the Lord to mask his affection for money. But the Psalmist reminds us that our kisses should be real and should reflect our true love for the Son. If we don’t love the Son, the day is coming when He will be angry.
Absalom was a beautiful charismatic individual. He is a picture of Satan himself. He used kisses to steal the affections of the people of Israel from David since He wanted the position that King David had. In like manner, Satan wants the place that Christ should have. He tries to get our affection by deceiving us into believing that he will make us happier than the Lord Jesus will. The Lord Jesus calls a lot of things sin that Satan calls fun.
Joab felt that he had to kill Amasa in order to preserve his position as David’s general. Since Amasa was a close relative (2 Samuel 17:25), it was easy to deceive him with a kiss when Joab’s real intent was to kill him.
I hope that all of us have kissed the Son that really counts. Kissing the Son would mean that we have acknowledged our sin and have trusted in the Lord Jesus. I can assure you that when God says that He loved the world in John 3:16, that He meant it. His love includes me and it includes you. God is not a hypocritical lover. He is not a manipulator. Now can He depend on our expression of love?
Paul really doesn’t give us options when he says to greet one another with a holy kiss, does he? Christians should never use their expressions of love to manipulate and betray. Nothing blesses us in this life quite like a “holy kiss.” Nothing hurts quite like a deceitful kiss.
Bruce Collins