It is basketball season. If you follow sports at all you don’t need to be told this. The NCAA basketball tournament is coming. And a lot of money will be at stake. Americans bet about 2.72 billion dollars on the tournament (men’s and women’s combined) last year (from the American Gaming Association). A quarter of the adult population bets on these tournaments. It is indeed a big business. Betting as a fan is one thing, but betting as a participant? Yes, unfortunately this happens sometimes too. In fact just this season some players from the Fresno State basketball team were caught betting on themselves in certain games. Allegedly one of these teammates bet on himself to underperform.
This kind of thing has happened before and it isn’t confined to basketball. Maybe the most notorious example comes from the 1919 World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox. This so-called “Black Sox” scandal came to light when eight members of the Chicago team were allegedly bribed to lose the series. Records from court suggest that the players were paid a range between $70,000 and $100,000 to throw the games.
Can you imagine how the other teammates must have felt in these cases? How would you feel if you worked so hard getting ready and then playing games during a season only to learn that members of your own team were working against you?
Why does betrayal happen?
Some argue it is because of people feeling they aren’t getting what they deserve. And some say it is just because your feelings for someone else change. But on a fundamental level I think it is this: other things become more important to you. In the case of betting on yourself to underperform, that “other thing” is money. That is certainly a big driver.
If you had to come up with the most popular example of a betrayal in our culture you would most likely point to divorce. It is pretty common after all. About 43 percent of marriages in America end that way. The divorce numbers have decreased some in the past twenty years, but so have the number of marriages so we probably can’t count that as a victory.
The most famous American betrayer was most likely Benedict Arnold. He was an early hero of the Revolutionary War for America. In 1775 he participated in the capture of the British garrison of Fort Ticonderoga. The next year he helped to get British General John Burgoyne’s army to surrender at Saratoga. But he later felt he wasn’t getting the acclaim he deserved and in 1779 he entered into a secret pact with the British. The deal allowed him to get paid for turning over the West Point post. He also got a command post with the British army. His story is so well known that the mention of his name makes Americans think of the word “traitor.”
The bible is no stranger to betrayal. We get it in the story of Jesus and his disciple Judas.
Luke 22:1-6
22 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6 He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.
Luke 22:47-48
47 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Did Jesus trust Judas? In one way it doesn’t seem so, since he knew ahead of time that Judas would betray him. But can you really have betrayal without trust? If you don’t trust someone how can they betray you? And why didn’t Jesus just turn himself in? He knew what had to happen. Couldn’t he have saved Judas from having to betray him?
Tough question, but I think it can be answered by looking into Judas’ heart. Jesus could have changed the circumstances, but Judas would still have been someone who would betray him if given the chance. Also, turning yourself in is an admission of guilt, and Jesus didn’t do anything wrong.
Judas wasn’t the only one who betrayed Jesus. He just gets top billing. Peter denied he knew him. The other disciples scattered and hid. This story shows us just how flawed we humans are. Jesus’ best friends and followers, who saw his miracles and lived their lives with him, couldn’t be loyal at the end.
Betrayal happens when trust goes away for one person but stays with the other. Think about that for a second.
Now ask yourself this. What is your trust level for God? Would you have acted differently if you were one of the disciples? Be honest. If the answer is “no,” what can you do in your spiritual life to get to the point where you can say “yes” to that? What trust do you need to cultivate to make that happen?
God Bless