DAILY GRACE
April 7, 2020, Tuesday of Holy Week
Scripture: John 13:21-33, 36-38
When he had said these things, Jesus was greatly distressed in spirit, and testified, “I tell you the solemn truth, one of you will betray me.” The disciples began to look at one another, worried and perplexed to know which of them he was talking about. One of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, was at the table to the right of Jesus in a place of honor. So Simon Peter gestured to this disciple to ask Jesus who it was he was referring to. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved leaned back against Jesus’s chest and asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus replied, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread after I have dipped it in the dish.” Then he dipped the piece of bread in the dish and gave it to Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son. And after Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” (Now none of those present at the table understood why Jesus said this to Judas. Some thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him to buy whatever they needed for the feast, or to give something to the poor.) Judas took the piece of bread and went out immediately. (Now it was night.)
When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is 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 right away. Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ now I tell you the same.” . . .
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? I tell you the solemn truth, the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times!”
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
Meditation
“Jesus was greatly distressed in spirit.”
When I ponder this Gospel I feel sad at seeing Jesus troubled. He had said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Now he is troubled and distressed in spirit. Ecclesiastes tells us there is a “time for everything,” including “a time to weep” (Eccles. 3:1-4). Now it’s Jesus’ time to be overwhelmed with sadness. Even in his emotions he chose to be like us in all things but sin (cf. Heb. 4:15). At times I feel storms of sadness and troubled emotions. Jesus did not shield himself from the stabbing pain of a friend’s betrayal. He wept over Lazarus and over Jerusalem. His heart was moved with pity at seeing the widow of Nain. He knew the joy of friendship at Matthew’s house and the comfort of hospitality of Martha and Mary.
Now, Jesus is plunged into a distressing sadness. He speaks of betrayal and everyone acts surprised, even his betrayer. He tells Judas, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” His sadness at Judas reminds me of what the martyr Saint Thomas More expressed in the play A Man for All Seasons. When Sir Richard Rich perjures himself as he falsely accuses More, the saint tells him he is more distressed by Rich’s perjury than by his own prospect of execution.
What troubles our Lord in this Gospel scene? The thought of impending betrayal and abandonment is breaking his heart. He knows Judas’ treachery. He looks at the other disciples who seem so innocent and unaware of what will soon take place. He cannot force his love on the betrayer, but he tries to save him. He washes his feet, he offers him the morsel of bread dipped in the dish. Judas eats and leaves. “And it was night.” Judas walks out of Jesus’ presence. He turns back on the Light. He is swallowed up by the night, by Satan, the prince of darkness.
Prayer
Lord, John the Evangelist details for us the love you offered to each disciple —- even the one who would betray you. I ask you to be my motivation and my driving force, even when I feel drawn to abandon the cross of daily fidelity. May I care for those around me and desire their eternal well-being above all. I trust that in your goodness you will grant me this grace. Amen.
Contemplation
“Children, I am still with you for a little while.”