Betrayal…and Thanksgiving

Wednesday of Holy Week

Isaiah 50:4-9; Matthew 26:14-25

 

There are few things more painful than betrayal. 

When a person close to us betrays our trust, we feel many emotions:  sorrow, anger, confusion and especially vulnerability.  If someone so close to us can expose us to danger, what about the rest of the world?

Jesus was betrayed, and not only by Judas.  Peter betrayed him by denying that he even knew him.  His other closest disciples ran away when he needed them to be with him.  As he hung on the cross, he even wondered whether his Father had abandoned him.

We rightly feel compassion for Jesus.  But we should also feel gratitude.  In the mystery of the Incarnation he freely became so fully human that he experienced the worst things that we can do to each other.  He suffered and he died, all for love of us.  The cross is an enduring symbol of betrayal, sin, and suffering; but it is also and even more a perpetual sign of God’s grace, mercy and love for us.

Tomorrow we begin the most sacred time of our church year.  It will be a time of sorrow and joy.  Let it also be a time of thanksgiving. +