Wednesday of Holy Week -- April 20, 2011
Matthew 26:14 – 25
Then one of the Twelve — the one called Judas Iscariot — went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?”
Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
We walk deeper into Holy Week with each day, moving with Jesus toward the cross of Good Friday.
We join Jesus on this walk through betrayals, trials and suffering. It is part of the discipline we deliberately take on for these days.
We shouldn’t miss, though, that Holy Week also represents Jesus joining us. As difficult as it may be to join Jesus in suffering and death, you may find it to be a greater challenge to accept that Jesus joins you on your journey.
It sounds like polite theology to talk about how Jesus joins us in our suffering. I, and perhaps you, find it difficult to consider the vulnerability of Jesus, though. We tend to be more comfortable with his divinity than with his humanity.
In this passage, though, Jesus was vulnerable. He was vulnerable to a friend’s betrayal and he was vulnerable to the same suffering that afflicts you and me.
He was human. We want Jesus to know more than he knows and do more than he does, to display some super-human powers. We default to, “But he’s God!” so easily. But his humanity was on full display through these days of Holy Week.
Think about the difficulties you have faced in your life, the terrible pain you’ve suffered, the incredibly hard choices you’ve had to make, the wrench of separated relationship, the sting of being betrayed by a trusted friend . . . anything that has caused you to walk under dark shadows for any length of time. None of that was foreign to Jesus.
Jesus stepped fully into the human condition. He did not step in tentatively, hiding behind a Superman cape or a God-façade. He entered fully into what it meant to be human. He did not skirt humanity.
If you’ve felt it or experienced it, Jesus joins you in that feeling or experience.
Then one of the Twelve — the one called Judas Iscariot — went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?”
Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
We walk deeper into Holy Week with each day, moving with Jesus toward the cross of Good Friday.
We join Jesus on this walk through betrayals, trials and suffering. It is part of the discipline we deliberately take on for these days.
We shouldn’t miss, though, that Holy Week also represents Jesus joining us. As difficult as it may be to join Jesus in suffering and death, you may find it to be a greater challenge to accept that Jesus joins you on your journey.
It sounds like polite theology to talk about how Jesus joins us in our suffering. I, and perhaps you, find it difficult to consider the vulnerability of Jesus, though. We tend to be more comfortable with his divinity than with his humanity.
In this passage, though, Jesus was vulnerable. He was vulnerable to a friend’s betrayal and he was vulnerable to the same suffering that afflicts you and me.
He was human. We want Jesus to know more than he knows and do more than he does, to display some super-human powers. We default to, “But he’s God!” so easily. But his humanity was on full display through these days of Holy Week.
Think about the difficulties you have faced in your life, the terrible pain you’ve suffered, the incredibly hard choices you’ve had to make, the wrench of separated relationship, the sting of being betrayed by a trusted friend . . . anything that has caused you to walk under dark shadows for any length of time. None of that was foreign to Jesus.
Jesus stepped fully into the human condition. He did not step in tentatively, hiding behind a Superman cape or a God-façade. He entered fully into what it meant to be human. He did not skirt humanity.
If you’ve felt it or experienced it, Jesus joins you in that feeling or experience.
Comments
Post a Comment