TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK

[cappie]

This is the Third day of Holy Week. The texts present the decisions of the religious and civil authority against Jesus, but also the betrayal which rendered it possible for the authority to arrest Jesus and contributed enormously to the suffering of Jesus.

After having washed the feet of the disciples and   Jesus expresses His emotion saying: “In all truth I tell you one of you is going to betray Me!” He does not say: “Judas will betray Me”, but “one of you”. It is one of His group who will betray Him.

The disciples are frightened. They did not expect that one of them would be the traitor. Peter makes a sign to John to ask Jesus which of the twelve would be the traitor. This is a sign that they did not know one another well, they could not succeed in understanding who could be the traitor. John asked Him: “Who is it?” Jesus indicates Judas.  In a common and normal gesture which the participants at a supper used to do among themselves. And Jesus tells Judas: “What you are going to do, do quickly!” Judas had charge of the common fund. He was in charge of buying things and of giving the alms to the poor.  In this description of the announcement of the betrayal is evoked the Psalm in which the psalmist complains about the friend who betrays Him: “Even My trusted friend on whom I relied, who shared My table takes advantage of Me” (Ps 41:10; cf. Ps 55:13-15). Judas becomes aware that Jesus knew everything. But even knowing it, he does not change his mind but keeps the decision to betray Jesus. This is the moment in which the separation between Judas and Jesus takes place. John says at this moment Satan entered him  John comments: “”It was night”. It was dark.

It is as if history had waited for this moment of separation between light and darkness. Satan (the enemy) and darkness entered into Judas when he decides to carry out what he was planning. In that moment the light was made in Jesus who declares: “Now the son of man has been glorified, and in Him God has been glorified also. 32 If God has been glorified in Him, God will in turn glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him very soon!” The decisions had already been taken by Jesus (Jn 12:27-28) and now by Judas. 

 Together with the betrayal of Judas, the Gospel also speaks of the denial of Peter. These are the two facts which contribute the most to Jesus’ suffering and pain. Peter says that he is ready to give his life for Jesus. Jesus recalls and reminds him of reality: 

When in the morning the first pickle begins to sing, almost at the same time all the cocks crow together. Peter is more rapid in his denial than the pickle in crowing.