Wednesday in Holy Week - Betrayals Wednesday.
"One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?”
"They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over....
"When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
"Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”
Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”
He answered, “You have said so.” (Matthew 26: 14.... 25).
Wednesday 5th April 2023 in Holy Week.
Towards the end of His life, Jesus reveals more and more the testimony of Sacred Scripture about the gathering storm of His passion and death.
About Judas, he said, "The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed." (Matthew 26: 24).
The Gospel of today presents for our reflection: Sin, Betrayal and Repentance.
The word "Betrayal" is used in today's Gospel, Matthew 26: 14 - 25 six times. You may call it: Betrayal Wednesday in Holy Week.
So what do you think of the mystery of sin and betrayal?
Every single sin is a betrayal of someone.
The price of Judas to betray Jesus is 30 pieces of silver.
What is your price? What is it that you love and prefer to Jesus? That is the price you ask for your sin or betrayal.
Jesus' ministry is framed around "appointed time," "fullness of time." There may be a number of reasons why Jesus at this time wants to anchor His disciples on the testimony of Scripture about Him and His mission.
#1. His death would shatter whatever faith the disciples had in Him. It therefore became necessary that they learn that He is the Lord of history and knew everything that would happen in His passion.
#2. The disciples would see too that He entered His passion and death freely of His own accord. He was not trapped in Gethsemane and arrested as a helpless fugitive from justice.
Paul wrote that Christ died and rose from the dead according to the Scriptures, that is, according to the plan of God predicted in the Scriptures.
As we approach the Easter Triduum, our faith in Jesus as both God who knows the past and future and as Man who manifested fear in Gethsemane of His suffering should grow.
"There are graces destined for My priests in this the night of My agony and of My betrayal that are not given at any other time. I am bound tonight. I have already been taken, and My captors led Me away as a lamb to the Slaughter. I am silent but My Heart watches and waits for My priests. If only they would come to Me, I would undo the bonds that hold them in slavery. I would give them light in the spiritual darknesses that oppress them. I would speak to them words of comfort and of compassion." (IN SINU JESU, Maundy Thursday Night March 20, 2008).
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