Betray

"Yet she must dye, else shee'l betray more men."
--Othello, Act V

From the OED...

Betray. BE + traien (from Latin tradere, to deliver or hand over).
1. To give up to, or place in the power of an enemy, by treachery or disloyalty.
2. To disclose, reveal, or show incidentally.

Few words pack power in them like this one. A friend can betray you like no other. Enemies do not betray enemies. A movie that illustrates this so well is the scene in Braveheart where William Wallace fights against a visored knight who, it turns out, is his ally Robert the Bruce. More tragic is the intimacy Jesus of Nazareth shared with twelve disciples for three years, only to be betrayed by Judas who had personally experienced Jesus' love, companionship, and teaching.

Then I'm thinking about how people in the West (N. America, Europe) feel betrayed in the age we live in. People sometimes feel betrayed by their government, their church, their society. Possibly even the technology we use. I wonder what is the common thread between all these... and I think it is expectation. When we expect a good thing from an institution or person, and are surprised by the opposite, we may feel abandoned and disillusioned by them.

On the other hand, why would we betray someone else? There must always be a betrayer. I think marriages are an easy example. A husband who has an affair and betrays his wife easily justifies his adultery on the grounds that his wife wasn't fulfilling him. She didn't meet his expectations. How easy betrayal becomes when we decorate it with reason.

An interesting thought that I'm considering... is that Jesus knew Judas would betray him, and hand him over to be arrested & crucified. Mark 14:18 clearly records that Jesus had foreknowledge this would happen.

Is the betrayal any less painful if you know it will happen? Is Jesus unique in his attitude?