“Through the sorrowful Way of the Cross, the men and women of all ages, reconciled and redeemed by Christ’s Blood, have become friends of God, sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father. ‘Friend’ is what Jesus calls Judas and he offers him the last and dramatic call to conversion. He calls each of us friends because he is the true friend to everyone. Unfortunately, we do not always manage to perceive the depth of this limitless love that God has for his creatures” (Pope Benedict XVI, Address on Good Friday, 21 March 2008).
Judas was present with the other disciples for the feast of Passover and the washing of feet. He ate and drank like others from the same table. The Master washed his feet too. But even then, his soul refused to stir. Eating and drinking from the same table does not necessarily make us one. Just because we were baptized in the same water using the same vessel, with the same baptismal formula does not mean that we are true disciples. For that to happen, we need to be worthy enough to find a place in the heart of the Master.
After sharing the same bread, how did one disciple become the Master’s favourite and another become a wretched betrayer? After being baptized in the same water, how did one disciple become a witness of the Saviour while the other became His murderer? The soil that receives divine grace matters a lot. When Christ washes his feet on Passover evening, Simon Peter tries to stop him: “You shall never wash feet” (John 13:8). True that it is not the Master who is supposed to be washing the feet; to the Eastern mind this is so clear, who should wash whose feet. But, Jesus corrects him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part in me.” He offers a new commandment of love that transcends all boundaries of love. If Judas had objected to washing of his feet, I wonder if that would have been a distinctive moment of his conversion!
After sharing the same bread, how did one disciple become the Master’s favourite and another become a wretched betrayer? After being baptized in the same water, how did one disciple become a witness of the Saviour while the other became His murderer? The soil that receives divine grace matters a lot.
Judas had already had a discussion with the religious leaders. If our hearts are hardened, then no one can change us. Judas’ heart was colder than his cold feet. “To one who has faith, no explanation is needed. To one without faith, no explanation is possible,” says St. Thomas Aquinas.
Jesus warned the disciples, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me” (John 13:21). All the apostles including Judas responded to Jesus, “Is it I, Lord?” A corrupted heart never listens to warnings; he had already planned everything. No matter how many times the Master washes their feet, they still remain unclean in their hearts. While Da Vinci was meditating on selecting a particular portion of the Last Supper to be portrayed, he chose this moment of the disciples asking each other, “Is it I?” I wonder if Judas had said, “It is I; I am the traitor! I’m sorry,” we may have had a different picture of Judas. As St. Augustine said, “God who created you without you, will not save you without you.”
It is not Peter’s recklessness that should be feared, but rather the actions of Judas that seem to be motivated by love. Despite betraying him with hugs and kisses, Jesus still refers to him as “my friend.” When the other apostles discovered that Judas was the traitor, they all despised him, yet Jesus never abandoned him. He was Judas’ only true friend!
Father Primo Mazzolari was one of the great public figures of mid-twentieth century Italy. His homily on Holy Thursday in 1958, a year before his death, which he titled “Our Brother Judas” is well-known. At the heart of the homily are the words of Jesus upon Judas’ arrival at the Garden of Gethsemane: “Friend, do what you have come for” (Matthew 26:50). “Friend” was the last word that Jesus addressed to him. Even after his betrayal, Jesus expresses love, mercy, and even friendship towards this betrayer. This was an invitation to examine the inner life of Judas. We don’t know if even that word penetrated his heart. But we know one thing: Judas must have remembered that powerful and lovely word “friend” at the moment of hanging himself on a tree. “O Judas, my friend…!”
Jesus warned the disciples, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me” (John 13:21). All the apostles including Judas responded to Jesus, “Is it I, Lord?” A corrupted heart never listens to warnings; he had already planned everything. No matter how many times the Master washes their feet, they still remain unclean in their hearts. While Da Vinci was meditating on selecting a particular portion of the Last Supper to be portrayed, he chose this moment of the disciples asking each other, “Is it I?” I wonder if Judas had said, “It is I; I am the traitor! I’m sorry,” we may have had a different picture of Judas. As St. Augustine said, “God who created you without you, will not save you without you.”
Still, we are sure when Jesus prays from the Cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” he certainly does not exclude Judas from those he prays for. True that Jesus had said about Judas, “none of them was lost except the son of destruction” (John 17: 12). Another terrifying statement about Judas: “It would be better for that man if he had never been born” (Mark 14:21). But, as in many other instances, he is speaking from the perspective of time and not of eternity. “The eternal destiny of a human being is an inviolable secret kept by God” (Raniero Cantalamessa).
“We may betray Christ’s friendship, but Christ will never betray us, his friends; even when we don’t deserve it, even when we turn against him. Even when we deny him, in his eyes and in his heart, we are always friends of the Lord…. Poor Judas. Our poor brother. The greatest sin is not to sell Christ; it is to despair” (Primo Mazzolari).
We cannot pass a hasty judgment on him. The betrayal of Judas continues throughout history. Judas sold the Head, while his imitators continue to sell the Body, the members of the Body of Christ. Judas’ betrayal continues through the life of each of us when we fail to confess our sins. Judas had the gifts of discipleship, but he did not value them. Instead, he abused them and ultimately failed on the path of discipleship. You may be given extraordinary gifts, but they are not sufficient for you to be a faithful servant of God. You need to nurture them, develop them, and be grateful for them.
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