Year B Passion Sunday WEDNESDAY 2024 And Judas, Too

 Year B Passion Sunday WEDNESDAY, 27 March 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“And Judas, Too”

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, he 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."

So we are here already. Lent is almost over. We are on the cusp of the Triduum, the morning of Wednesday in Holy Week, and we have the reading of Jesus with his disciples having their Last Supper together. We have come to the end, where Jesus is sending out the one to betray him and hand him over to the Jewish authorities.

I have spoken in years past about the dipping of the matzah into the dish Jesus mentions. The final dish of the meal could very well be the Maror, the bitter herb. Often in the States we use the biggest chunk of horseradish. The taste was to remind us of the bitterness of slavery, often eaten with parsley or romaine lettuce. Was this what was on Judas’ tongue as he was sent out? Or did Jesus use the Charoset, the mixture of apples and wine, the sweet taste of freedom, even then offering and extending Grace to his betrayer?

When I hear people saying that God hates anybody, I remember this moment.

When I hear people talk about who should be excluded from the church or from the altar of Christ, I remember the moment.

When I hear people do anything other than extend enthusiastic welcome to God’s Children, I think of this moment.

I cannot reconcile these thoughts in my mind. If Jesus welcomed, washed, fed, and loved Judas, who are we to take the privilege of excluding anybody?

If Jesus can wash Judas’ feet, who should we exclude? Who is more despicable?

If Jesus can serve the meal to him, who is not welcome? Ever?

We come to receive Grace not to celebrate our Grace.

We come to get a taste of Freedom, this meal being a foretaste and promise of the True Freedom we will one day receive.

That Judas was able to remain with the 12, without shame or scorn or rejection by Christ says so much about who he was and how we should be, too.

Jesus’ sending Judas out with the words, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” haunts me. It haunts me because Jesus and Judas were resolved to go to the point of no return. And even knowing what he was about to do, Jesus welcomed, washed, fed, and loved Judas.

When we are not the people we should be, Jesus does the same for us. Welcomed, washed, fed, and loved, we are called home however far we roam, however deep into sin we have delved.

Jesus is all about transformation. Satan is about corruption. Satan working in Judas takes a kiss, a sign of intimacy and love, and transforms it into betrayal. Corruption at its utmost. Jesus takes a sign of death, the cross, and transforms it into the way of Life. Could it be any more clear? As Rachel Held Evans reminded us: “The apostles remembered what many modern Christians tend to forget– that what makes the gospel offensive isn’t who it keeps out but who it lets in.”

When you are feeling down on yourself, or on something you have done, that is not the voice of Christ. Walk away from that voice. Listen for the one who gives life and loves you. If you are not feeling God with you, pray for awareness. God has not, will not, will never leave you. As Jesus promised, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.