Message of Abbot Paul - Wednesday 5th April 2023

Again today, the Gospel reading concentrates on the betrayal by Judas Iscariot, but this time as related in Matthew rather than John, (Mt 26: 14-25). It’s similar in many ways to the version we read yesterday in John chapter 13. We read that even before the Passover, Judas has already decided to betray Jesus and hand him over to the chief priests. “One of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces, and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him.” What a desperately sad story it makes. It’s always struck me as somewhat strange that the other disciples had no idea about what was going on in Judas’ mind.

 

​So it was, then, that “when evening came, Jesus was at table with the twelve disciples. And while they were eating, he said ‘I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me.’ They were greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, ‘Not I, Lord, surely?’ He answered, ‘Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!’ Judas, who was to betray him; asked in his turn, ‘Not I, Rabbi, surely?’ ‘They are your own words’” The disciples were honest men and they knew perfectly well that anyone of them had it in him to betray Jesus. “Not I, Lord, surely?” came from the lips of each one of them. Even Judas says, “Not I, Rabbi, surely.” Jesus’ reply is enigmatic, neither yes nor no, but he does say to Judas, “Those are your words, not mine.” The others might not know, but Judas does know exactly what he is planning to do. It’s a sad story, which we pray will never be repeated.