Wednesday of Holy Week Commentary on Matins Readings 2026
This is the last of three preparatory weekdays before the Sacred Triduum, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. In some places today is called “spy Wednesday.” The word “spy” is probably not the best characterization of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. The word "spy" comes from the Middle English "spien," which is derived from the Old French "espier," meaning "to watch" or "to observe."
But Judas did a lot more than observe. He handed Jesus over to the Jewish authorities for thirty pieces of silver. That makes him the first of the traditores, or traitors. We use that word to characterize any Christian who hands over sacred persons or writings or vestments or vessels to anti-Christian authorities.
Our lesson from the Letter to the Hebrews lightly touches on the conflicts that can arise in the Church, or families, by reminding us of how the patriarch Jacob literally stole father Isaac’s blessing from his older brother Esau. “He was rejected because he had no opportunity to alter his choice.” Likewise, as soon as Judas, who was supposed to become a patriarch of Christ’s church, threw his lot in with the Jewish authorities, he really had no chance to back up and save Jesus. Maybe he thought he has a good motive beyond the betrayal price. But he is certainly the most tragic character in the Gospels, and maybe even in the history of the world.
The author of Hebrews reminds us that the ultimate end of Judas’s betrayal was our salvation! He was an actor in the divine drama that made Jesus, Son of God and son of Mary, the mediator of a new covenant, able to offer at the heavenly offer the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel. Therefore we must not refuse the words of the letter and the Gospels. We must not turn back from our commitment, which is sealed in the waters of baptism and the Eucharistic offering.
Our commentary today is from a treatise on John the Evangelist by bishop Augustine, written about four centuries after the Pasch of Jesus. John gives us the words of Jesus: no one has greater love than the man who lays down his life for his friends. John then goes further, saying in his correspondence with the churches, As Christ laid down his life for us, so we too ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He then derives a lesson from the Proverbs of Solomon: if you sit down to eat at the table of a ruler. . .stretch out your hand, knowing that you must provide the same kind of meal yourself.
We must be prepared to lay down our lives for Christ and His Church, not necessarily by bloody martyrdom, but by giving over everything to Christ’s service. And that’s not only during Holy Week, but as a program for every day of our lives.
