Tuesday of Holy Week

Lectionary: 258

Moss enjoys the sunlight,
so long as its not direct.

Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant.

During these first days of Holy Week we remember and reflect on the events that led to Jesus’ passion.

The confusion and distress of his disciples upon hearing of a betrayer should find an echo in our hearts. Betrayal, by its nature, is unexpected. It comes from within a group of trusted friends or family. They are bound together by common beliefs, mutual respect and a shared history of many adventures. Their lives are braided so deeply they can hardly imagine living apart. What happens to one happens to everyone; what is said of one is said of all.

Is it possible that one of us might betray the group? It’s almost incomprehensible. We know one another! How could we not know who it is?

The Church has long experience of betrayal, but our leaders have often managed to cover it up. They feared scandalizing the faithful. Unfortunately, as we now know, the cover-up only made matters worse. Not only did the criminal behavior thrive in the silence; but some leaders, supposedly well-intentioned, finally stepped over the line between good and evil. Some have been convicted as criminal accomplices.

Despite the Lord’s admonitions to forgiveness, we find little sympathy for Judas Iscariot in the New Testament. That he acted according to God’s plan is no excuse; in Saint Matthew’s Gospel Jesus declares it would be better had he never been born. (26:24)

One thing is certain; the New Testament writers were not given to starry-eyed notions of what should be done. Someone might say, “We should forgive his betrayer,” but it never happened.

And yet life must go on and we are not permitted to live the rest of our days with the bitter taste of betrayal and unforgiveness. The Gospels agree that Judas’ behavior was a necessary part of God’s plan. Jesus’ sacrifice could not occur had he simply walked into the praetorium and demanded to be crucified. Rather, he had to drink the cup of suffering to it dregs and not least of his suffering was the kiss of the traitor.

In the darkness of that evil we see the glory of God.

And it was night. When he had left, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.