Too

All this time that I have been judging Judas, am I not worse?  After all, Judas betrayed Christ once, and I do too…

Betrayal of Christ (Icon)

I have been thinking about Judas Iscariot, about whom Christ – God Himself – said, “But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” (Matthew 26:24).

That is a very big statement.  I mean – God who is perfect love – considers that Judas would have been better to have never existed…

I have been reflecting on what it was that caused Judas to stray…

Judas was a bishop of the Church.  He was one of the first priests – he was in the inner circle and knew God and sat with Him, ate with Him, witnessed His miracles.  Judas was not a priest who thought about God in the abstract. He witnessed God face to face on a daily basis.  He saw God in the dust of the road and the tiredness at the end of the day.  He saw God in the hunger of the road and the injustice of the bureaucracy.

And on the night before He died, Christ offered bread and wine to Judas too.  Christ fed Judas and washed his feet.

THAT is love.  Christ knew that Judas would betray Him.  He knew that Judas was not only going to deliver Him into the hand of unjust men, but He knew that Judas would do this for a piddling amount of money.  He knew that despite everything that He had ever done or offered to Judas, Judas was unprepared to change. 

I have always thought of Judas as a betrayer – a man who sold Christ for a piddling sum.

But, am I any different?  I make sinful choices all the time.  Sometimes I do it for instant gratification.  Sometimes I do it because I am lazy.  Sometimes – like Judas – I am greedy.  Always, I am selfish.  I am always the person who makes an excuse for what I am doing.

And Judas, who saw so many miracles, likely thought that Christ could get himself out of this little matter – He had always got Himself out of other things as well.  He had got on His way and moved across.  “But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” (Luke 4:30).

And it was this arrogance that tempted Judas to sin…  It was the thinking that Christ would be able to get out of things…  He always had before.  So what if he tempted Christ?

Was this not just the same as the temptation of Christ in the desert?  After all, did not Satan come to Christ and offer Him things?  Is that not what happened with Judas that night?  He was offered things (silver) and for that He gave up on God?

And is this not what I do every day when I sin?  When I choose my temper or jealousy or gossip or anger or pride or pleasure over God, am I not simply making the wrong choice?

And all this time that I have been judging Judas, am I not worse?  After all, Judas betrayed Christ once, and I do too…

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