THE WORD
Is 49,1-6 / Jn 13,21-33.36-38
When he had said this, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “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 he took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 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 he took the morsel and left at once. And it was night. When he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, 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.”...
IN OTHER WORDS
It must be extremely painful to be betrayed by someone who is close to you, to whom you have given your trust, to whom you have given importance. Today’s gospel brings us Jesus solemnly expressing his pain at the betrayal by one of his chosen twelve – Judas Iscariot.
In a somber mood Jesus announced to the twelve: “One of you will betray me,” (verse 21). When asked who among them, Jesus replied, “The one to whom I give the bit of food I dip in the dish,”
(verse 26). For some moments the apostles were puzzled and wondered who among them would do such a thing. But their consternation was short-lived. They seemed not to take Jesus’ announcement to heart; first, maybe because sharing a morsel at table was a gesture of courtesy among the Orientals; second, maybe they were busy serving themselves food; third, they were at the same time arguing as to who was greatest or the most important among them (Luke 22:24). They were tuned out from Jesus as they were all tuned in to themselves. Thus, when Jesus handed the morsel to Judas and told him to go quickly and do what he was planning to do, they thought that Jesus told him to buy more food for the celebration or to buy something for the poor. Of course, Jesus was discreet in not mentioning the traitor’s name; but being truly human, he must have expected the group to react in alarm, anger, distress, sympathy; but what he got was “deadma”, unconcern. They were preoccupied with themselves!
The treachery of Judas coupled with the lack of concern by the eleven must have been like a double-edged sword that pierced the heart of Jesus that evening.
To sum up, three characters are presented here;
- Judas Iscariot whose conscience is turned into the tinkling sound of 30 pieces of silver that
Satan allures him;
- The eleven apostles whose personal ambition for power dulls their hearts to Jesus’ call for
compassion;
- Christ whose deeply wounded heart bleeds with mercy, compassion and forgiveness.
How about asking ourselves: To which of the three characters do we resonate most of the time?
Why?
- Sr. Angelita Roferos, SSpS | CHS, Manila
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
