Wednesday of Holy Week
Today is the last full day of Lent. Tomorrow, Holy Thursday, begins the Triduum, the finale in the story of Jesus’ life and death; and the beginning of the story of His glorious resurrection. For the last forty days, we’ve been preparing for what’s to come in the next four days.
In today’s Gospel, we read about Judas, Christ’s betrayer. If I were to meet Judas, I guess I would ask him “What the hell were you thinking??? You knew who He was. You’d seen the miracles. You’d walked with Him and talked with Him. What the hell were you thinking???”
Judas knew that Jesus was the Son of God. He knew that Jesus would know what he, Judas, was up to. He told the Apostles:
“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 told them that it would be better for His betrayer if he had never been born.
Judas even had the intestinal fortitude to say to Jesus, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi.” Who was he trying to kid?
Clearly Judas had a conscience. After Jesus was captured, he gave back the money and hanged himself. So, what was he thinking?
A lot of people today betray Jesus in a lot of different ways. Some do it intentionally, some don’t. Some do it in big ways, some in small. Some know better, some don’t. We live in a culture of death. How must Jesus feel when an innocent child is killed before it has a chance to live. I imagine He feels worse about that than He did about His own death.
What does He think when he sees a child abused? Or when He sees an elderly person mistreated by the very people who are supposed to care for him or her? What does He feel when He sees people abusing their bodies with drugs?
The thing is, He loves us so much, He’s willing to forgive anything. He even forgave those who took His life.
Which brings us back to Judas. What happened to him? Jesus said it would be better for him if He had never been born. But He forgave the people who killed Him. Did He forgive Judas? When He said “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” was Judas included in that? I’d like to think he was because we have a loving, forgiving God. After all, someone had to betray Jesus for the prophesy to be fulfilled.
I guess we’ll get the answer to that question someday. But for now, we’ll just have to wonder.
In today’s Gospel, we read about Judas, Christ’s betrayer. If I were to meet Judas, I guess I would ask him “What the hell were you thinking??? You knew who He was. You’d seen the miracles. You’d walked with Him and talked with Him. What the hell were you thinking???”
Judas knew that Jesus was the Son of God. He knew that Jesus would know what he, Judas, was up to. He told the Apostles:
“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 told them that it would be better for His betrayer if he had never been born.
Judas even had the intestinal fortitude to say to Jesus, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi.” Who was he trying to kid?
Clearly Judas had a conscience. After Jesus was captured, he gave back the money and hanged himself. So, what was he thinking?
A lot of people today betray Jesus in a lot of different ways. Some do it intentionally, some don’t. Some do it in big ways, some in small. Some know better, some don’t. We live in a culture of death. How must Jesus feel when an innocent child is killed before it has a chance to live. I imagine He feels worse about that than He did about His own death.
What does He think when he sees a child abused? Or when He sees an elderly person mistreated by the very people who are supposed to care for him or her? What does He feel when He sees people abusing their bodies with drugs?
The thing is, He loves us so much, He’s willing to forgive anything. He even forgave those who took His life.
Which brings us back to Judas. What happened to him? Jesus said it would be better for him if He had never been born. But He forgave the people who killed Him. Did He forgive Judas? When He said “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” was Judas included in that? I’d like to think he was because we have a loving, forgiving God. After all, someone had to betray Jesus for the prophesy to be fulfilled.
I guess we’ll get the answer to that question someday. But for now, we’ll just have to wonder.
posted by Mike at 9:55 PM
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