“The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”

If we’ll look at it more closely, it seemed that it directly contradicts when Jesus said "Get behind me Satan. You are thinking not as God does but as human do” to Peter when the latter rebuked Him when He spoke openly to the disciples that the Son of Man must suffer greatly & be rejected by the elders, the chief priests & the scribes, & be killed & rise after three days (Mark 8:31-33).

Reading between the lines, Jesus would have been grateful if Judas had not been born than betraying Him. But here He is reacted contradictory about Peter’s concern to Him not to be harmed by these elders, the chief priests & scribes where in fact, one of the groups are the ones whom Judas had dealt with (Mark 14:10-11) to trade Jesus which indeed closed at 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15).

Absolutely, Jesus was not bittersweet over Peter reaction. In fact, He was consistent of being particular for the salvation of both sides. It’s not only Judas who is the betrayer here but the elders, the chief priests & scribes as well. The word that Jesus uttered pertaining to Judas when He said “It would be better for that man if he had never been born” is an _expression_ of regret towards a wrong choice that Judas made. This reaction could have been the same reaction to the elders, the chief priests & the scribes. Had they repented on their wrongful acts, Jesus would have forgiven them. Peter also betrayed Him when he denied Him three times but Peter had shown his remorse (Matthew 26:69-75).

Jesus was angered when Peter rebuked Him because what the latter could only see is the betrayal of the elders, the chief priests & the scribes but he could not see the bigger picture of the mission. Since human could not fathom God’s mystery, Peter had no idea that all the things he was going through & all the others that were yet to come have already been foreseen by Jesus as the pros & cons of His Messianic Event. As the Son of God, Jesus could have controlled everyone’s mind which He did not because ever since God has been giving us the liberty to be responsible in every “yes” & “no” that influence us in every choice.

At that time before the Salvific Mission, the earth’s sinfulness had already been grave. There were stories in the past generation of utter destruction that were already supposed to be carried out which God did not push through anymore because of God’s mercy to the repentant people.

2 Samuel 24:16-17 But when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD regretted the calamity and said to the angel causing the destruction among the people, "Enough now! Stay your hand." The angel of the LORD was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel who was striking the people, he said to the LORD: "It is I who have sinned; it is I, the shepherd, who have done wrong. But these are sheep; what have they done? Punish me and my kindred."

Jonah 3:10 When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.

But this time, the earth’s people had been offending God so much; from its church to the government & community, that He needed to go down to the human level for us to be saved.

Naturally when the leader is disobedient to God’s will, most likely the people down the line follow suit. Let’s take a look on how the generation to generation had offended God starting from David up to the time that Jesus began His ministry to redeem mankind from its sinfulness:

Obedient Disobedient
David 2 Samuel 11:30-39 Offended God but repented
Jeroboam 1 Kings 14:6-16 Displeased God
Abijam 1 Kings 15:1-8 Imitated all the sins
Asa 1 Kings 15:9-24 Pleased God
Jehoshapat 1 Kings 22:41-51 Pleased God
Jehoram 2 Kings 3:1-3 Became proud
Uzziah 2 Chroniccles
Jothan 2 Chron. 27:1-27 Lived resolutely
Ahaz 2 Chronicle 28:1-27 Displeased God
Hezekiah 2 Chron. 29:1-32:33 Pleased the Lord
Manasseh 2 Chron 33:1-20 Displeased God but humbled
Amon 2 Chron 33:21-23 Displeased God
Josiah 2 Chronicle 34:1-7 Pleased the Lord
Jechoniah 2 Kings 24:8-17
Shealtiel 1 Chronicle 3:17-24 NO RECORD OF VALOR
Zerubbabel 1 Chron 3:16-19 Listened to the voice of the Lord
Haggai 1:12.14; 2:2.23
Ezra 3:2.8; 5:2
Nehemiah 12:1

From the generation of Abiud who’s the son of Zerubbabel up to the generation of Jacob who’s the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary; no such names of these genealogy could be found in the Old Testament (Matthew 1:12-16)

The natural genealogical was broken because of its infidelities (1 Kings 2:4 and the LORD may fulfill the promise he made on my behalf when he said, 'If your sons so conduct themselves that they remain faithful to me with their whole heart and with their whole soul, you shall always have someone of your line on the throne of Israel.') but the prophecy about the Messiah who will sprout from the lineage of David were fulfilled; through Joseph’s adoption the child belongs to the family of David.

Jeremiah 23:5-6 Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; As king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give him: "The LORD our justice."

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.

Jeremiah 33:15 In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land.

Isaiah 11:1-5 But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, A spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, But he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land's afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
In our times today, there have been generation of betrayers coming from the government leaders, church leaders & communities who have been copying the old life_style_ that truly displease God; the life_style_ that truly displease God; the life_style_ that are even ridiculous than the past.

When do we stop betraying God? Others may say, “I’m not betraying God, I’m just following the desires of my flesh which He Himself is the Giver!” Yes, but not through the sin that destroys the flesh. God is the Giver of our lives so He deserves all the obedience w/c after all designed for everyone’s benefit.

But what’s happening, we’re obeying the spirit of sin which is not the giver of life. Sinning through lies, pre-marital sex, homosexuality, injustice & selfishness is betrayal of our Covenant with God, that "We must love the Lord, our God, with all our hearts, with all our minds, and with all our souls."

Wednesday Gospel: Matthew 26:14-25 Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples."'"The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, "Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, "Surely it is not I, Lord?"He said in reply, "He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born."Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" He answered, "You have said so."