A young union soldier saw his dad and older brother killed in battle. He was the only surviving male in his family. Though he was not afraid to join his dad and brother in death, he knew that if he died his mother and sisters would have no one to take care of them. And so he appealed to President Lincoln to excuse him from the army so he could go back home to take care of his family. His love for his family went deeper than his fear of death.
Today, the start of holy week, we join Jesus and his disciples at the Last Supper table. Jesus knew what was about the horrible sufferings that awaited him t, and that was his last full day on earth. We listen to what was most on his mind at that moment (John 13:21-38).
“Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.’”
What troubled Jesus so deeply was not the thought of his crucifixion what the anguish in his heart regarding Judas. Jesus loved Judas as he did his other disciples, and his heart was broken, not just because Judas would betray him, but because that in doing this he cut himself off from God, probably forever. His love for the betrayer was more important to him than his love for his own life.
“The disciples looked at one another, at a loss to whom he meant.”
It was hard for these men who loved Jesus to think that one of them could possibly turn on him. Peter turned to John and asked him to have Jesus reveal which of the men would betray him. Could it have been that Peter wondered if it was he? Jesus told John that he would dip a morsel of bread into some wine and hand it to the betrayer.
“So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him. So, Jesus said to him, ‘What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, ‘Buy what we need for the feast,’ or to give money to the poor.”
Even though Peter and John knew that Judas would be the betrayer, they still didn’t catch on that he was actually going to the priests and tell them where to find Jesus. We wonder why Jesus told Judas to go about his business “quickly.”
“So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.”
At that moment, Judas entered into a spiritual “night.” He made a decision to cut himself off from the only Light there was in the world. For the few remaining hours that Judas lived on this earth, he was in the dominion of Satan. What a horrible thought.
The Church has us join Jesus and disciples today. We live in a world when many are betraying Jesus and choosing to live their lives in “night.” Realizing how weak we are, we pray that we will never betray Jesus and cut ourselves off from the only way to salvation.
So we pray: “Jesus, I believe that you are the only Light of the world. There is no way to eternal happiness but through you. Today I consciously recommit my life to you and ask for the grace to remain faithful to you to the end of my life.”
