The Gospel
At supper with his friends, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples– the one whom Jesus loved– was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival”; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.”
The Offering
From Jonathan Sanders
“Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
For some reason, I have always been fond of Judas. I look at this section of Gospel with a bit of a twisted lens. Wasn’t the whole point for Jesus to die on the cross for our sins? If so, then wasn’t Judas just the catalyst for our salvation?
I have several thoughts on this. Jesus tells us that one of us will betray him. Thinking present day, I firmly believe that while we strive to be in line with the teachings of Jesus, we fall short, subsequently betraying him – sometimes more blatantly than others.
Another thought is in regards to Simon Peter. He’s kinda chilling, reclining back on his high horse – “Jesus…who is it…let me deal with him.” Simon Peter was, by some accounts, a boisterous “act first think later” type of person. He lacked humility. He thought he was better than the others.
I have had personal experience with my own “Simon Peters” of the Church. I have been a “Simon Peter”…but maybe, just maybe, I have found God’s grace in my failings as a Judas of Iscariot.