Father, in your plan of salvation your Son Jesus Christ accepted the cross and freed us from the power of the enemy. May we come to share the glory of his resurrection. Amen
Matthew 26:14-25One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, “My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘“ The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.
When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.”
The gospel today immediately follows Matthew 26:13 but the action in the two parts of Matthew 26 are so different. In the first part the gospel tells about how Jesus, on his way to the City, stops by his friend’s house in Bethany. There a woman anoints him out of love and respect and Jesus tells his disciples that she should not be stopped since she is anointing him for his death. Then the very next verse takes us into the description of the preparation for the Passover meal. All Jews celebrate this seminal event of their history but this “Last Supper” is different. It is the fulfillment of that first Passover promise. But before the passion story is described we have the tragic scene of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
How can we understand this event as a lesson for us? We sin, but can we understand this terrible sin? Quite possibly we cannot, but we know God has blessed us so often, so lovingly, and yet at times we take it for granted or worse, we get the feeling we are entitled to his blessings. Any prayerful thought will lead us to feel true sorrow for how we have offended God because he is so good and loving and we have not responded properly to his friendship. What should we who are blessed be doing with our blessings?
Our Savior, you invite us to share in the glory of the resurrection. Please stay with us as we struggle to see how accepting the crosses of our lives will free us from the power of the one who wants only to destroy our love and trust in you. Help us to be humble and accepting like your Son, Jesus. We want to turn to you with the same trust he had in your love. Save us, Lord. Only you can save us. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment