Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!” The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom he could mean. The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s he talking about?” So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.” None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant. Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor. So Judas left at once, going out into the night. As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. And since God receives glory because of the Son, he will give his own glory to the Son, and he will do so at once. John 13:21-32
I always
worried about that exchange of bread; Jesus dipped the bread into the bowl, gave
it to Judas intentionally, and then John (an eyewitness) records Satan
entered into him. My mind goes
to possibilities such as whether Jesus caused Judas’ fall. Did Judas know what he was doing? Was he somehow duped into betraying Jesus? Was Judas just a pawn in God’s game?
But all
these questions work against free will.
At the moment Jesus held forth the piece of bread to Judas it was still
an offer of friendship; one man holding forth the gift of sustenance to
another. On a deeper level, the bread
was the symbol Jesus had used earlier…the bread of life, which was
being offered; Jesus was saying, my life is in your hands, brother. This makes receiving the bread truly, as Jesus’
friend, or falsely, as traitor, a ball that was still in Judas’ court. When Judas took the bread with betrayal still
in his heart, it opened the path to his soul for Satan to take charge. Inviting that, Judas went out into the night.
The
epilogue to Judas’ treachery could’ve been written differently had his heart
been bathed in repentance for even thinking of selling Jesus to the religious
leaders for 30 pieces of silver. Later Apostle
Paul would write about this moment taking place in the hearts of would-be
followers of Jesus:
So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. 1 Corinthians 11:27-30
It gives a
whole new perspective on the importance of communion to think in these ways
about the possibility of our own connection with Judas when we treat God’s loaf
and cup lightly.
The opportunities
are only two:
·
Life in the light of Christ
·
Death going out into the night.
For You Today
Sometimes “holy
week” can turn our attention to details that miss the weighty center of what
God is doing. We can scurry around
getting ready for the Easter parade, bonnets, colored eggs, and such, when the
real target is eternal life.
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[i] Title Image: Judas being paid - Capella dei
Scrovegni - Padua (Public Domain - via Wikimedia Commons)
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