Year A Holy Week WED 2023 And It Was Night

 Year A Passion Week WEDNESDAY, 5 April 2023

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“And It Was Night”

Collect: Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 13:21-32

At supper with his friends, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, "Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples-- the one whom Jesus loved-- was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, h    e asked him, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do." Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the festival"; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once."

This is such a moving text. John adds some nuance we miss in the other Gospels.

As serious as it is, these disciples are as human (and flawed) as we are. Never forget that. Jesus claims that one of the apostles will betray him. I love this line I do not remember noticing before about Simon Peter.

Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking.

What do you think that looked like?

[Shrug???]

Or was it more like… 

[Shaking head pointing at self, shrugging while pointing at others???]

When I find curious little tidbits in Scripture it reminds how true this story is, and how human the participants. His gesture not getting an answer, so Peter goes on…

So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"I

Life lesson, when in doubt, be direct. And for once in a blue moon, Jesus answers a question. 

"It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish."

Now there is no way of knowing for sure, but during the Passover Seder, one dips when one tastes of the maror, often raw horseradish. It is to remember the bitterness of slavery. Is this what Judas was tasting when Jesus sends him out to do what he is to do?

It gives that interaction an even deeper meaning, and heartbreaking symbolism.

After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do."

And he did.

And Jesus would be glorified. 

"Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once."

This is the same language that was used in the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus delayed going to him to heal him, “it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” [John 11:4]

We are going into the days of the glorification of Jesus. He did not match evil for evil. He stayed silent against lies and slurs. He submitted to a cruel and horrible death wrapped in shame and humiliation. And the worst of it, which we cannot possibly comprehend, the Eternal ceased to be. And in and through it all, we see the Glory of God. 

And so it begins. I trust you will stay with us in the yearly retelling of this tale.

One more note, as Judas went out, it says these words. “And it was night.”

Painting by Carl Bloch, late 19th C.

In so many ways. We feel farthest from the light in the night. We feel the farthest from hope in the night. We stumble and fall, in the night. It is dark, my friends, for it is night. But always remember that the dawn will come.

St Paul used this same analogy for all of us who claim an identity in Christ in Ephesians 5:

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be associated with them, 8 for once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Walk as children of light, 9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness; rather, expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly, 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

    “Sleeper, awake! 

    Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Amen