Wednesday of Holy Week Reflection

During the last meal that Jesus shared with his friends, Jesus declared that one of them would betray him. John's gospel (John 13: 21 - 30) tells us that

"the disciples looked at one other, uncertain of whom he was speaking".

Did they look around the room to identify who was most likely to be so disloyal? Did each look into their own hearts and wonder, could it be me?

Eventually, one of them asked,

"Lord, who is it?"

Jesus did not name any of them, but said,

"It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish."

I can imagine each of the disciples with bated breath watching as Jesus dipped the bread, dreading to see to whom he would give it.

At the head of this post is a detail of a painting of The Last Supper. Plautilla Nelli was a 16th century nun in Florence and a painter of religious art. This image is from her enormous oil painting 'The Last Supper'. This detail shows the moment when Jesus handed the dipped bread to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. You can also see Simon Peter seeming to say he would never betray Jesus, but he did, only a few hours later. Simon Peter betrayed Jesus by denying him 3 times after Jesus' arrest.

The name of Judas has become a bi-word for betrayal.  Judas conspired with the religious authorities to hand Jesus over to them. They were plotting to kill Jesus. Did Judas know that? Or was he deceived into thinking he was protecting Jesus?

I would love to know more about what was in Judas' mind - what led him to do what he did. The gospels give us enough hints to build a variety of theories. I wonder if he was an idealist who had come to feel betrayed by Jesus, because Jesus didn't conform to Judas' idea of how the Messiah should be?

Judas was one of 'the Twelve' - the inner circle of disciples hand-picked by Jesus. Judas was present at 'The Last Supper'. Jesus washed his feet as he washed those of the other disciples. He gave Judas with the others the bread and wine of the new covenant. Jesus didn't exclude Judas from that last meal with his friends, even though he knew what Judas planned to do. Jesus loved Judas, as he loved them all.

The 2005 play 'The Last Days of Judas Iscariot' by Stephen Adly Guirgis shows Judas on trial for his soul after his betrayal of Jesus. After Judas is found guilty, Jesus walks towards Judas who stands alone in the dark. Then Jesus turns to the audience and speaks about his identification with all humanity. The speech includes words like this, "if you hate whom I love, you do not know me at all. And make no mistake, who I love is every last one." And then, in spite of everything, including the guilty verdict of the trial, Jesus turns to Judas and tries to save him again.

Jesus came not to save the 'righteous' but the 'sinner', including each of us who betray him.

Image Credit: Wikipedia