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“The Son of Man is going just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better (more profitable and wholesome) for that man if he had never been born!” (Matthew 26:24).

Betrayal of Christ (Fitzwilliam Museum)

I have been reflecting on Judas Iscariot.  In times gone by – when people were perhaps more openly Christian – people would insult each other by calling each other a “Judas”.  And this really meant that they felt the other person had betrayed them.  The disciple Saint Jude, is called Saint Jude of hopeless cases, because his name is so similar to Judas Iscariot’s name that for hundreds of years the Church believed it was hopeless to encourage people to invoke his intercession, because most Christians believed that Saint Jude of hopeless cases and Judas Iscariot were one and the same person.  And knowing that Judas betrayed Christ, and knowing that he later took his own life, and knowing that Christ Himself said, “The Son of Man is going just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better (more profitable and wholesome) for that man if he had never been born!” (Matthew 26:24), people did not want to invoke Judas, who we are fairly sure was not redeemed…

And I have been thinking about what this attitude to Judas means, compared with my own attitude…

You see, Christ asked His disciples to give their WHOLE life to Him and in return, He gives His WHOLE life to them…

“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends...  No longer do I call you servants...  but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” (John 15:9-17).

And I have been reflecting on that today.  You see, I am a disciple of Christ.  And Christ asked these things of ALL the disciples – including Judas Iscariot…  Christ asked all those who follow Him to entrust Him with everything…  And this is the same thing that He is asking of me.  And it seems to me that the problem for Judas was that he refused to give absolutely everything to Christ…  He gave only a portion.  He did not want to risk it all.  He only wanted to contribute a little bit.  He only wanted to give a bit of himself.  It was all too hard and all too much for Judas Iscariot to trust completely in God, he wanted to reserve just a little bit extra for himself.

And I have been thinking about that today because I think I am more similar to Judas Iscariot than I would really like to admit…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.