Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Proverbs 27:6
Who could forget the kiss with which Judas
betrayed the Lord? It was the final act
in a long relationship of an unfaithful heart.
There are many questions that we have about the life of Judas, but there
is no question that there was definite cruelty in the kiss with which the
disciple betrayed the Master. In
contrast to this we could think of the wounding of Peter’s betrayal in the temple
courtyard – where he denied even knowing Jesus (John 18:15-18). While that failure was dealt with when Peter saw
Jesus on the beach the faithful wounding of a friend was given by Jesus. As Jesus repeatedly asks Peter if he loves
Jesus more than these three times Peter is grieved. At that moment Peter was restored, having
faced his own shortcoming as a blustery big talker this faithful wound was
critical in transforming Peter from a big talker into a pillar of the early
church.
Good, Brad. So good.
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