Lord, as we continue to travel through this Holy Week towards the cross with you, may you open our hearts and minds as we experience the joys and sorrows with you. Amen.
Betrayal, distrust, sadness and hurt.
Four things that immediately come to mind when we think about this passage!
Let me paint a picture for you, Jesus and the disciples have sat down for the Passover meal, and are recounting the story of Israel’s release from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians. They are celebrating the freedom that God had blessed them with. Then suddenly Jesus drops a bombshell. One of you will betray me!
The mood changes, everyone is worried and anxious, they all wondered if it was them?
There is an uneasy silence as they look at each other. Then Simon Peter asks the question that is on all of their minds. Silence filled the room and everyone looked to Jesus.
‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’
You can imagine the scene, almost as if it were being played out in slow motion, as their eyes were fixed on the bread as he picked it up and handed it to Judas.
I wonder if any of were sat round that table – how would we have felt? Confused, afraid, angry?
Then Judas left without explanation.
The rest as they say is history…
But how do we understand this story?
Do we cast Judas into a fiery pit because of what he had done, do we feel pity for him, do we understand why he did it? Do we condemn him for his act of betrayal?
Whenever we enter this week of the year, Judas without fail gets a mention. He is seen as Jesus’ arch nemesis his evil opposite, we consider the ramifications of what has just happened, and mourn for Jesus, who has just been betrayed, but we then quickly move onto the rest of the story because there are worse things yet to come.
Judas’ betrayal is legendary, and etched onto our hearts and minds, but is this the only betrayal that the Gospels give us? Let’s have a look.
Well to begin with the other betrayal that is well known, the betrayal of Peter, after he has given this speech about how he will always follow and will lay his life down for Jesus. We see a few hours later that he denies Jesus three times.
But wait, have we considered the disciples who were with him at the garden of Gethsemane, after he was arrested, the disciples fled, and left Jesus to be taken away by the authorities.
Then the last betrayal was at the cross, throughout the Gospels there is only one mention of one disciple looking on, the rest are nowhere to be found?
So what does this say to us? Was their sheer terror at being crucified along with Jesus enough to keep them away? Or was it that they were looking on from a distance so that they could make a quick escape? It is possible that any of these could be partly the reason why. But it is more likely that they still didn’t understand the awesome significance of the cross, the saving and redeeming power that it gives.
But as we consider the actions of the disciples, and the various ways in which they betrayed Jesus, deep down because we don’t always like to admit it, everyday since we have all, in our own ways all betrayed Him, and still do this today in our own lives.
It may not be a betrayal in the same way that we see in the gospels, but none-the-less, there is still betrayal in our lives.
It could be that we have lied, or done something that we shouldn’t have done, but in our own way each of us is as responsible as the disciples for the nails that are hammered into Christ’s hands and feet.
Each day of our lives we crucify Christ in one way or another, was it the gossip that we shared with a friend, was it the lie or the words we said to, or about someone that hurt them, or was it the stranger who asked for our help, and all we did was turn our back on them?
Whatever it was we are all betrayers of our Lord.
Now I know this all sounds like doom and gloom, but we need to also remember that we are still on our way to the cross, in this week of pain we haven’t yet looked our crucified saviour in the eye.
Yes, Christ died on the cross, he bore our sins and redeemed us all.
But, as we now approach the Triduum, where do we place ourselves in relation to the cross? Are we there at the foot on our knees, looking up at Jesus hanging there, saying thank you for this gift? Or are we with a long way off ready to run away at the first sign of trouble, to afraid to stand and be counted? Or are we at home thinking that Jesus will redeem us wherever we are, that we don’t have to be there praying and asking for forgiveness?
We all have our own thoughts on how we react to the cross, and what that sacrifice of love means to me, it’s a very personal response, and may well differ from others. But if we are to follow this Holy Week and engage with it fully then we should be prepared to stand shoulder to shoulder on that hill crying out to God, repenting of what we have done, so that just like the thief, we will receive the promise of being in paradise with Christ.
So how did the disciples make their confession and earn forgiveness?
Judas in an act of penitence hung himself, and although some may see this as a sin in this present age – the easy way out as it were. In first century Israel it was seen as a way of atoning for wrongdoing.
At the seashore Christ asked Peter three times if he loved him, and through this he gained redemption, and the other disciples also found redemption in Christ.
Today is Holy Wednesday, from here on in the story speeds up and events really start to shape the Easter message. For all of us we should remember that we follow a crucified saviour, a saviour who walked the path of pain and death, so that we can live.
Since Ash Wednesday our Lenten cross, has sat here in the centre of our worship, and slowly the candles have gone out one by one. This week, the paschal candle sits alone burning bright, as the light of the world, and will continue to do so until our worship on Good Friday evening as we worship together for the final time before Easter Day.
In a few moments time I am going to offer you all a short time of quiet, and in that time, I invite each of us to think about where you would want to stand in relation to Christ on the Cross, and to say your own personal prayer to our crucified saviour.
We need to always remember that whatever is happening in our life, we can come to the foot of the cross and ask for forgiveness, and through his love we receive it through our saviour.
Holy week isn’t about walking to the cross thinking I know what’s going to happen, so it isn’t an issue. We should walk this week, as if it was the very first, as if we were there in Jerusalem. Through our experience of the pain, sorrow and loss, of the walk, we are enriched and enabled so that when we come to Easter Day, we can shout our triumphant song in the full knowledge of the price Christ paid to give us eternal life as his people.
Let’s Pray,
Father we ask that you would give
us a fresh vision of this most Holy Week.
Remove from us the knowledge
and apathy that we sometimes feel.
Help us to know your pain, and sorrow in a new way.
So that as we walk this week, we come to know you more deeply.
Amen.
