Tuesday of Holy Week
Intentions: That all people will turn away from sin, living instead with compassion and justice, and embracing God’s gifts of faith, hope, and love.
Today’s Gospel | John 13:21-33, 36-38
Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.” 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 since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or to give something to the poor. So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.
When he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”
Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.” Peter said to him, “Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.”
A Lenten Reflection
The narrative of the night before Jesus’ passion ends with some of the darkest scenes in all of scripture. In them, Jesus must accept at once the duplicity of one his Apostles, the immanence of his suffering and death, and the likelihood that most of his followers will scatter in weakness and confusion. For the reader, even knowing who Jesus Christ is does not lessen our wonder at how he endured those last few days. In fact, the Son of God’s strength came from a very human place.
If we accept that Jesus was both fully God and fully man, then we must accept that, as a man, he could know fear. The story of the agony in the garden makes clear that he did. How did he overcome it so completely that even looming betrayal, humiliation, and torture could not deter him from doing what was right? It was a matter of fidelity. Jesus chose to go to the cross because it was the only way in which he could keep faith both with the Father and with himself. As he had throughout his life, given the option of either being himself or being less than himself, he would remain true to who he was and to the meaning and purpose of his life
In his book, The Philosophy of Despair, scientist David Jordan wrote, “Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.” During Lent, as we take time to reflect on how we have chosen to live our lives, we would do well to consider that Jesus’ passion serves not only as a model for faith, but also for integrity. In the chaos of the days leading to Easter, Jesus’ every decision was a “yes” to truth, outside of which there can be no authenticity or virtue. God’s call to repentance is a call for us to return to faithfulness, not only to God but also to the responsibility of being our best and truest selves.
Prayer
Eternal Father, you made your Son a light to the nations, and in his sacrifice the salvation of all people. Just as he placed his trust in you to deliver him from suffering and death to new life, be with us at all times, especially when we are anxious and confused. Lift us from despair to hope, from fear to courage, from doubt to faith, from hatred to love. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.