Tuesday of Holy Week
Lectionary: 258
Art: Rembrandt van Rijn – Peter Denounces Jesus
Reading 1 IS 49:1-6
listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
Yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
That Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Responsorial Psalm PS 71:1-2, 3-4A, 5AB-6AB, 15 AND 17
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Verse Before The Gospel
Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father;
you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter.
Gospel JN 13:21-33, 36-38
“Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant.
One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved,
was reclining at Jesus’ side.
So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant.
He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him,
“Master, who is it?”
Jesus answered,
“It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.”
So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas,
son of Simon the Iscariot.
After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.
So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him.
Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him,
“Buy what we need for the feast,”
or to give something to the poor.
So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.When he had left, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself,
and he will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
You will look for me, and as I told the Jews,
‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?”
Jesus answered him,
“Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
though you will follow later.”
Peter said to him,
“Master, why can I not follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me?
Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow
I will be with you only a little while longer.”
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISAIAH 49:1–6; PS 71:1-6,15,17; JOHN 13:21-38]
This life is full of mysteries. There are many things that are inexplicable in life. Nothing is certain. We get angry with God because we are carrying some sicknesses and suffering the consequences of the sins of others. We wonder why we are so unfortunate in life to be born into the family when our parents do not really care for us. We regret that our life is what it is today. We also do not understand how our life has unfolded. Sometimes, we wish our life was different. But then decisions have been made and we cannot turn back the clock. In a word, we do not understand the plan of God for us.
So, what do we do? We try to change the plan of God. We do not accept the plan that God has for us. In the first reading, the prophet made it clear, “The Lord called me before I was born, from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name. He made my mouth a sharp sword, and hid me in the shadow of his hand. He made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in his quiver.” Indeed, can we accept the plan of God for us in our lives? What if we were chosen to be the Prophet Jeremiah? Would we be ready to prophesy for the Lord even unto death, facing detractions, slander and opposition? Would we risk being popular and accepted by the people at the expense of being true to our calling in life? Even Jeremiah complained, “Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.” (Jer 20:7; cf Jer 20:14-18)
This was true in the case of Judas. Scholars have suggested different motives for Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. One of them was the greed for money. But others have posited that he could have been disappointed with Jesus because he expected Jesus to fulfil his expectation of Him being a political messiah who would overthrow the Romans. But Jesus was not acting as he thought He should. Hence, he wanted to force Jesus to act by having His enemies confront Him. Or perhaps, he had given up hope in Jesus as the Messiah. In a word, he did not understand the mission of Jesus and the plan of God. He wanted things his way and when he could not make Jesus do what he thought should be the case, he dumped Him.
On the other hand, Jesus remained on course although He was also troubled at the prospect of His passion and death, and most of all, “troubled in spirit” because one of His Twelve was going to betray Him. He knew that Judas was up to no good and that he would betray Him. He did not stop him from doing what he had intended to do. Instead, He sought to give him a last chance at winning him over by an act of love. So, instead of retaliating, the Lord “dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot.” It was an appeal to Judas to come to his senses. How many of us can continue to love our enemies, knowing that they are hurting us, betraying us, saying all kinds of untruths behind our back, and cheating us? Would we still be able to offer a hand of friendship and kindness to them? Or do we just write them off completely from our lives. Jesus did not. He was faithful, as the gospel said, to His Father and to us until the end. “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (Jn 13:1)
What about us? Will we stay faithful to the plan of God for us? Will we carry the crosses of life courageously and faithfully to the end? Indeed, like the disciples, we might not understand fully the plan of God for us. We do not understand why we have to carry so much responsibilities, deal with so many problems, challenges and demands, as if the whole world is on our shoulders.
In such situations, will we muster enough faith not to walk by sight but to trust in Him? This is what we are called to do. When we feel that nothing seems to be going on right in our lives, then we must surrender our lives into His hands as Jesus did on the cross, crying with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Lk 23:46) This is what the Lord told the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, “You are my servant (Israel) in whom I shall be glorified.” Jesus too came to this realization that if His death was needed to glorify God, then He would say “Yes” to His holy will. “Now has the Son of Man been glorified, and in him God has been glorified. If God has been glorified in him, God will in turn glorify him in himself, and will glorify him very soon.”
Indeed, in the mysterious plan of God, the death of Jesus would bring about His glory and Jesus in turn would be glorified by Him. Humanly speaking, such thoughts defy human logic. When we are suffering, we feel rather defeated. Even Jesus felt that way, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It is certainly not easy to believe that the way of God for us is the way to happiness in life. We resist and we seek to change His plan. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane was tempted to do so but gave in to His Father’s will. “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” (Lk 22:42) Even the devil thought that having influenced Judas to betray the Lord to His enemies, His death would be the end of His mission. Little did he know that the death of Jesus would be the death of all deaths and by His death, the sting of death will be removed, resulting in victory over death and sin.
Hence, in our trials and sufferings, when we feel like giving up, know that God is on our side. The truth is as the Suffering Servant remarked, “While I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing’; and all the while my cause was with the Lord, my reward with my God. I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord, my God was my strength.” Indeed, our tragedy and sufferings in the eyes of the world might seem to be God’s punishment but that is His wisdom of saving us. “For though in the sight of others they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.” (Wisdom 3:4-6) This is the testimony of the psalmist when he declared, “My lips will tell of your help. In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your justice rescue me, free me: pay heed to me and save me. Be a rock where I can take refuge, a mighty stronghold to save me; for you are my rock, my stronghold. Free me from the hand of the wicked.” God will show forth His power and reveal His plan to us in due time.
Today, we are called to make a decision for Christ. Will we be like Judas and Peter? Or will we take the path of the Suffering Servant and our Lord? In the face of trials, even Peter and the disciples betrayed the Lord. Jesus knew how weak they were, more than they knew themselves. “Peter said to him, ‘Why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ ‘Lay down your life for me?’ answered Jesus. ‘I tell you most solemnly, before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times.’” We too often speak like Peter. I will follow you! But in the face of trials and sufferings, like Peter and the rest, we will flee from our Lord. Peter was the first to condemn our Lord because when he was asked whether he knew the Lord, he made it clear that Jesus was of no significance to him and therefore did not deserve to be known.
The denial of Peter and the apostles must have hurt our Lord deeply. So is our denial of Him when we live lives contradictory to the gospel values. In so doing, we deny our Lord. Let us once again surrender ourselves to the wisdom of God’s mysterious plan for us by cooperating with Him as the Suffering Servant and our Lord did. We too have been chosen since we were in the womb of our mothers for a higher purpose in life, which is “ to gather Israel to him” and be “the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Together with Jesus, let us embrace the plan of God for us, even when we do not understand. Walk by faith!
Commentary on John 13:21-33, 36-38 From Living Space
A sad moment in the Gospel: double betrayal.
First, that of Judas. Judas is no outsider but one of the inner circle of the Twelve.
Jesus announces solemnly: “One of you is going to hand me over.” The statement comes like a bombshell. For all their weaknesses, they cannot imagine any one of them planning such a thing. Peter asks the Beloved Disciple, who is closest to Jesus (in every sense of the word) to find out who it is. “It is the one to whom I hand the piece of bread after dipping it in the dish,” says Jesus.
Jesus hands over the morsel, a symbol of sharing. It is probably part of the bitter herb, dipped in salt water which was a feature of the Passover meal. Jesus hands it over to the one who will hand him over to those who wish to be rid of him. This is an act of friendship which makes the coming betrayal doubly treacherous. The bitterness of the morsel is also significant.
In that very moment Judas knows he has made his fateful decision as Jesus tells him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” None of the other disciples realised the significance of the words.
As soon as he has left, it is no wonder that the evangelist comments: “Night had fallen.” Yes indeed. It was a moment of utter darkness. This is a gospel which constantly contrasts light and darkness. Yet at that very moment which sets the whole passion experience in motion, Jesus speaks of his being glorified and of God also being glorified.
To do this, Jesus is going to leave his disciples. He will leave them in death but he will also leave them to return to the glory of his Father.
Peter, well-meaning but weak, swears that he will go all the way with Jesus, even to death. It is the second betrayal. Worse in some ways. At least Judas made no wild promises. What will save Peter will be the depth of his repentance and later conversion.
We too have betrayed Jesus and those around us so many times. We have broken bread with Jesus in the Eucharist and then turned our back on him by the way we treat those around us. We have promised at confession with his help never to sin again and then gone and done what we have just confessed.
Let us pray that we, like Peter, may weep bitterly for all the wrongs we have done and all the good left undone.
Source http://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/l1063g/
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SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ISA 49:1-6; PS 71: 1-6, 15 & 17; JN 13:21-33. 36-38 ]
Were you troubled when you read the opening words of today’s gospel when St John wrote, “Jesus was troubled in spirit”? For the evangelist to describe Jesus in those words, he must have seen the normally calm Jesus emotionally affected by the attitude of Judas and His disciples. He must have been so deeply troubled that He needed to ventilate His frustrations and fears to His apostles saying, “I tell you most solemnly, one of you will betray me.”
But why was Jesus so distressed? Of course we should be able to empathize and sympathize with Jesus who saw through how His closest friends and disciples would eventually betray Him, especially Judas. To suffer the betrayal of our loved ones is the most difficult thing to accept, especially when that person is your spouse, your best friend or someone whom you love and have helped a lot. This explains why adultery wrecks not just a marriage but triggers deep emotional upheaval and even depression in the one betrayed, sometimes causing the person a total loss of confidence in love, friendship and marriage.
As a human, Jesus would have suffered what we go through in any betrayal. Still, what was the real cause of the distress of Jesus as a consequence of the betrayal? Was it the fear of a cruel death ahead of Him? Or was it more the fear for Judas and the Eleven, that their betrayal of Him is more a betrayal of themselves?
In the final analysis, when we betray someone, we betray ourselves, our values, our dignity and our integrity. This was what happened to Judas and Peter. Judas ended up committing suicide as he could not forgive himself for being so foolish as to hand over his master to his enemies. He lost confidence in himself and despised not just his action but his very being. Peter too, in some ways was also representative of the other apostles when he denied his association with Jesus. Peter out-rightly denied he knew Jesus whilst the others fled and abandoned Jesus at the hour when He most needed them. Peter was so remorseful for what he did that the moment he became conscious of his act, he wept. But thanks to the grace of God, he was humble enough to repent and he received forgiveness and healing from the Lord.
There is a fundamental difference between the two betrayals. The first betrayal was grounded in pride, ambition and greed. Judas betrayed Jesus with malice and full consent. His act was cold and calculated. It was premeditated, for Jesus told Judas, “What you are going to do, do quickly”. Where Judas deliberately betrayed his Master, Peter however, in a moment of weakness, denied him with an oath. He was ruled by cowardice and weakness. Peter, like the rest of the apostles, was sincere in loving and defending Jesus but was too timid in the face of threats against his own life. He hoped that he would never be the one who would betray Jesus and hence he nudged John to ask Jesus who would be the one. A further indication that there was no intention whatsoever of Peter abandoning Jesus was his self-assured confidence when he said, “Why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” But Jesus who knew Peter so well, cautioned him, “I tell you most solemnly, before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times.” So it was out of cowardice and weakness that he denied Jesus, to his great disappointment. That was how the others, other than Judas, also felt as they in bewilderment “looked at one another, wondering which he meant.” In their hearts, none of them ever thought that they would also betray their master.
Even the effects of the betrayal were different. Judas, a man so proud and insistent on his will, could not accept Jesus’ unconditional forgiveness. He fell into the snare of the devil, which made him believe that his sinful action could never be forgiven by Jesus and definitely not by his fellow apostles. So he never asked for forgiveness. Instead, so disgusted was he with himself that in despair he was led into believing that by taking his own life, he would win Jesus’ forgiveness. He could not appreciate that Jesus loved him unconditionally. The cure for his self-rejection was not suicide but repentance.
Peter, on the other hand, was taken over by love, for when he saw Jesus who looked at him, he went out and wept bitterly. He was truly contrite and remorseful for his weakness. His tears were tears of sorrow and contrition, unlike that of Judas’, which were tears of despair. In Peter’s deep regret for what he did, he must have remembered Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness and so he found the courage to meet Jesus again when He rose from the dead. And the tears washed away his guilt and sin.
By resolving to turn to the Lord, he eventually became an apostle of love to the world, fulfilling the vocation that was given to the suffering servant. We too are called to be that apostle of the Good News of God’s love and mercy. Like Peter and the apostles, we are weak and unworthy to proclaim Jesus to the world. But what is to be underscored is that God is our strength.
But will we betray him? The answer is “yes” because of our human weakness. But we have the sacrament of reconciliation and the assurance of God’s forgiveness given to us through the one eternal sacrifice of Christ, which means that He always forgives us. We are all sinners and will always remain so. At some time or another, we will fail the Lord and betray Him by our words and actions. What is asked of us is our sincerity and humility to turn to Jesus for forgiveness and for healing. God knows us better than we know ourselves; that we will fail, notwithstanding our good intentions. We will falter but we will not be crushed by our sins and failures. God will continue to supply us the grace we need. All we need to do is to return to the Lord. We must imitate Peter in repentance. We must weep tears of sorrow. He knew that the Lord would never reject him.
This is what the Psalmist wants to remind us, that salvation is the work of God in us, not our strength. Together with the psalmist we must pray, “In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your justice rescue me, and deliver me; incline your ear to me, and save me. Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety, for you are my rock and my fortress. O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked. For you are my hope, O Lord; my trust, O God, from my youth. On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength.”
Of course we must also be on guard against the subtle temptations of the Evil One. Just as he managed to disarm Judas, so too, we must be on the alert! We must turn to the Lord and beg for His grace and mercy to walk in the path He has shown to us. We must ask for the grace to feel horror for our sins and the tears to wipe out our guilt.
And having been forgiven ourselves, we must also celebrate this forgiveness we have received by forgiving those who have betrayed us as well. Like Peter, those who betrayed us also did it mostly out of cowardice, ignorance and fear. Just as Jesus loves us and chooses to heal us of our lack of integrity and self-respect through forgiveness, we too must release those who have hurt us by forgiving them so that they can forgive themselves as well. In so doing we identify ourselves with Jesus and become the channels of God’s healing grace through our innocent suffering. Yes, let us pray for healing and reconciliation in our estranged relationships so that when Easter comes, we will all be made a new creation and become participants of the new life of freedom and joy in the Risen Lord.
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