The 43rd word in my Lent lexicon is:
BETRAYAL.
Even writing it I’m aware that it’s a harsh and unforgiving word. Yet, reading today’s gospel it’s hard to find any other word to describe what goes on. Judas, for whatever reason, has come to the conclusion that he will betray Jesus to the authorities. Once again, Jesus shows that he is fully aware of what is going on and of where it will lead:
“He said ‘I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me.’”
It’s easy to identify with Jesus in this passage. We all know how it feels to be betrayed, we know the hurt, disappointment and heartbreak that it brings. We know it shatters lives and relationships.
It’s easy to identify with the disciples, indignant at the suggestion that this could be any of them as they chorus their:
“Not I, Lord, surely?”
Any of us have ever been mistakenly accused of anything can understand the indignation and heart that they must have felt.
It is much harder to identify with Judas, the betrayer. It’s so tempting to put him on the outside, to make him a scapegoat for all our own faults. It’s easy to tell ourselves that we would never have acted as he did. But if we are honest we have to acknowledge that in the course of our lives we too betray both Christ and ourselves.
So this hard gospel, and this hard word holds a mirror up to us. It asks us both to acknowledge the times we have been betrayed, and the times we have been the betrayer.
What mirror is Christ challenging you to look into this Holy Week?