Spy Wednesday: But For the Grace of God

"Judas Betrays Jesus" by Michelangelo

The Wednesday of Holy Week is known as Spy Wednesday, because of the Gospel reading:

"One of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces, and from that
moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him.

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus to say, ‘Where do you
want us to make the preparations for you to eat the passover?’ ‘Go to so-and-so in the city’ he replied ‘and say to him, “The Master says: My time
is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples.”’

The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover.
When evening came he was at table with the twelve
disciples. And while they were eating he said ‘I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me’ They were greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, ‘Not I, Lord, surely?’ He answered, ‘Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!’ Judas, who was to betray him; asked in his turn, ‘Not I, Rabbi, surely?’ ‘They are your own words’ answered Jesus."

It is true that the days leading up to Jesus' Passion were filled with intrigue, thanks to this rogue disciple. It's easy to paint Judas as the enemy and to look at him as a sort of anomoly, the "bad guy." But, the sadness is that there is nothing particularly unique about Judas's actions. As history reveals, the "bad guys" so often are just ordinary men and women. They could be us.

There but for the grace of God go I.

How often do we find ourselves saying, "Oh, no. I would never do that. I would never have an affair. I would never have an abortion. I would never___________." You fill in the blank. But, pride goes before a fall. Sometimes, like Judas, we are already even plotting to commit offenses against God, and still, we play innocent, we hold our heads high, all the while assuring ourselves and others, "Not I, surely?"

Today, let us root out the pride in our hearts, that we might not fall. Let us search our deepest, most repressed temptations, and stare them in the face, that God may cleanse us truly. And, if we have already fallen into sin, let us not make the same mistake Judas made, his greatest transgression.

You see, it is my belief that the worst thing Judas ever did was not to betray Christ--it was to believe that Christ would not forgive him for it.

All of our sins, no matter how slight, put Jesus Christ on that Cross at Calvary. Every single one of us is guilty. And, He shed His Precious Blood to forgive us all, to wash every single sin away. Judas, however, despaired, and rather than accept this great grace, he took his own life. This part of the tragedy of Judas Iscariot is, naturally, foremost in my mind this year.

There but for the grace of God go I.

This Holy Week, let us cling ever more to grace--rejoice in it--celebrate it--share it! Yes, let us share it extravagantly, for it has been extravagantly granted to us. And, if we sin, let us not despair. For God is generous and more merciful than we can conceive. His grace is truly amazing.