Judas' Day

Dear Friends in Christ -

If I were going to give Holy Wednesday a name, I would call it "Judas' Day." It's the day each year when we read the lesson from the Gospel of John where Jesus identifies his betrayer. Jesus does so reluctantly, in response to a question from John, who is urged to ask by Peter.

In some ways, identifying Judas as the betrayer probably made the rest of the disciples express a sigh of relief - "Whew. Good. It's not me."

But what we know now that we are able to see how the whole story unfolded is that, in fact, all of the disciples betrayed Jesus. Peter, the one who wanted so badly to know the identity of "the" betrayer, ended up betraying Jesus by denying him in public even before his death. All of the disciples fled after Jesus was arrested and not a one of them stuck around at the foot of the Cross as Jesus died.

"For all have sinned . . ." All, not some, all have betrayed Jesus. For some of us, our betrayals are dramatic, visible, sometimes public. For others, our betrayals are smaller. But whether big (one swift blow) or small ("a thousand cuts"), all betrayals lead to death.

May God give us the grace, on this "Judas' Day" not to be distracted by his betrayal, but to focus on our own. And to let our grief and sadness over our own betrayal lead us to know our need for the Saviour.

Faithfully,
Janet+