Let’s start with an easy question: Does good exist without humanity? Of course it does! The Book of Genesis clearly shows that God – who is infinitely good – was doing His work before He created humanity . . . and after each step of the world’s creation, we get acknowledgement that “God saw that it was good.”
Scripture and Church Tradition teaches that evil existed before humanity, too. As the Catechism puts it, “The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: ‘The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing.'”
These were some initial thoughts I had as I reflected upon today’s readings. In the Gospel selection from Matthew, we get the beginning of the story we just heard on Sunday, with Judas agreeing to betray Jesus, and Jesus confronting the Twelve with the knowledge that one of them would betray him. Obviously, in this Holy Week, mere days before Good Friday, the Church really wants us to think about this!
I spent a fair bit of time chewing on one aspect of this reading: Why was Judas needed? I find it hard to believe that the chief priests who Judas went to didn’t know who Jesus was; he’d made quite a name for himself in a relatively short time since he arrived at Jerusalem. As it says in Matthew 21: 8-11: “The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and strewed them on the road. The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out and saying: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.’ And when he entered Jerusalem the whole city was shaken and asked, ‘Who is this?’ And the crowds replied, ‘This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.'”
So it seems fairly reasonable, to me, that they didn’t need Judas, per se, to identify him. Indeed, in Mark 14:48-49, Jesus says something similar: “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs, to seize me? Day after day I was with you teaching in the temple area, yet you did not arrest me; but that the scriptures may be fulfilled.”
So, yes, Judas had free will (as do we all), and his identification may not have been strictly necessary, but the scriptures were also being fulfilled.
Where am I going with all this? Only to lay the groundwork that evil — like good — exists, but it thrives on action to bring its fruit to fruition.
From evil’s point of view, Judas’ betrayal must have been the ultimate triumph: “Bwah-hah-hah! Sure, those who oppose Christ could have arrested him at any time, but think how much more delicious it is that one of your trusted Twelve has betrayed him!” But God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that this betrayal merely strengthened the assertion that Christ was the Light and the Truth: Judas’ actions fulfilled scripture and set in motion Jesus’ ultimate triumph over death.
But it doesn’t change the fact that evil grows through our direct actions, whether it’s the disobedience of the Garden, Judas’ betrayal, or myriad other sins it’s all too common to hear about in the world. Even if all slavery were eradicated from the Earth — which seems unlikely before the last days — the renewed existence of slavery would only be a heartbeat away, as one human forces another to servitude again. The same thing applies to all sins; even if all drug abuse, pornography, or murder were eradicated, it would only take one new drug user, one new illicit photographer, one new person to raise a fist or weapon in anger to bring those back into the world.
Similarly, good — in the form of God — existed before humanity, but it grows and thrives on our direct actions. The first reading from Isaiah gives some insight into this: “The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.” Yes, God gives us a tongue to speak the Truth, and the sense to hear His voice, but then it’s up to us to actually make that happen.
It’s feasible that Judas’ actual betrayal may not have been strictly necessary, but evil found it necessary, because it’s through our direct actions, inactions, or even thoughts that evil finds purchase and grows. We may not be able to eradicate evil until God does so on judgment day, but we can at least keep it at bay by doing everything in our power to not let it grow in our hearts and deeds, like Judas. Goodness grows by our direct action and prayerful thought as well; time and again in the Bible God gives direct actions we can take to promote goodness in the world as we grow the goodness of our hearts. God has left it up to us to put that goodness into action.
Today’s readings: Is 50:4-9A; Ps 69:8-10,21-22,31 and 33-34; Mt 26:14-25
