The wonder of chapters 13 and 14 to 17 is not merely are they the longest of Jesus’ speaking with us, in the Holy Gospels. Each chapter also contains a treasure house of His teaching with each word revealing the depth and passion of His love for us.
I am
not speaking of all of you. I know those whom I have chosen. But so that the
scripture might be fulfilled, ‘The one who ate my food has raised his heel
against Me.’ [v.18]
Obviously
if we are raising our heel towards someone, which means our entire foot and
leg, it is a pre-strike gesture and here points directly at Judas the betrayer.
To betray someone is always an act of sin, to do so towards someone with whom
we are sharing a meal is a whole other depth of evil.
Let’s
not arrogantly assume we are unlike Judas, unless between Holy Communions we
never, ever, sin.
From
now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may
believe that I AM. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send
receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the one who sent Me. [vs. 19,20]
Every
time Jesus has tried to prepare the Apostles for His suffering and death they
either do not understand or choose denial, yet here again, so close to His
agony in the garden, Jesus is teaching them, teaching us, to believe that He is
indeed both – as Son of God – second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, true God
from true God, and our Incarnate Redeemer. This intimacy of love, expressed in
the tripartite word of receiving.
When He
had said this, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to
you, one of you will betray Me.” [v.21]
Other
than what can be gleaned from the Holy Gospels, and that is sparse, we know
nothing biographical, in the modern sense, about the Apostles. The little we
can glean from the Holy Gospels is that they were not of the elite, neither
highly educated nor wealthy, with perhaps the exception of St. Matthew when it
comes to wealth. We do know they were of the working poor, and, based on what
is written about their choice to respond to Christ’s call to follow Him,
through thick and thin, of course sometime arguing with Jesus, for three years
they steadfastly stuck with Jesus, a clear indicator of their love for Him.
While
it may seem Jesus, with different words than in verse 18 repeats that one of
them will betray Him, irrespective of Juda’s affection or lack thereof for
Jesus what echoes from the above verse is the beating Heart of Christ who never
– and if only Judas had heard that beating – stopped loving or rejected Judas.
The
disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom He meant. [v.22]
This is
very telling since St. John does not add any qualifier such as “except Judas”.
It is very
human
in a group setting as adults to return to the childish reaction with our
siblings when we have broken something and are questioned by our parents, for
example, to vociferously declare “not me!”
While
not articulated by word, rather by the gesture of furtive glances, clearly the
Twelve were frightened, even the eleven who were innocent. Again, a very human
reaction.
One of
His disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining on 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. [vs. 23-26]
It is
interesting, and certainly lacking in humility, that St. John self-identifies
as the disciple whom Jesus loves. Another very human reaction, for who does not
want to be first in line to be beloved? It also appears, as close as St. John
is physically to Jesus because he loves Jesus, he obviously takes advantage of
Peter’s request to move even closer, more intimately.
Jesus’
answer to the who is it question, and His gesture towards Judas, sharing food
also an intimacy of love for other, must surely have eased the tension of the
Eleven, even if: After he 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. [vs. 27-29]
Satan
can only enter a human being if by our free will we give the evil one leave to
enter. By taking the morsel Judas was effectively assuring Jesus his betrayal
was rock solid, at this juncture. Judas was turning his back on Jesus’ love and
handing himself over to satan.
So he
took the morsel and left at once. And it was night. [v.30]
Judas
went out, “and it was night” – a fitting description for a deed of darkness. It
was perhaps a relief to be away from the Light of the World. Nature is
sometimes in sympathy and sometimes in discord with our joys and sorrows. The
sky is gloomy with clouds when there is melancholy within. Nature was suiting itself
to the evil deeds of Judas, for as he went out he found not the face of God’s
smiling sun but the Stygian blackness of night. It would also be night at
midday when the Lord would be crucified. [1]
[1]
LIFT OF CHRIST by Fulton J. Sheen; p.293; Image Books, 1977
© 2021
Fr. Arthur Joseph
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