Thoughts for the Day

After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, ‘Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’ So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘Do quickly what you are going to do.’
Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, ‘Buy what we need for the festival’; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

We have five senses: touch, sight, smell, hearing and taste, at least most of us have, though some of these senses we can be born without, or they get a little dimmer as we get older! Many people for instance lost their sense of smell and taste because of Covid 19. But one sense that gets forgotten is touch. Those who live alone can go days or weeks without anyone touching them, and no handshake, or kindly hand on an arm or shoulder to express affection can make loneliness lonelier!

The Gospels are full of things that assail the senses and sometimes we can almost feel the heat of the land and the noise of the hubbub in Jerusalem. When Mary anoints Jesus' feet we can almost smell the fragrance of the oil in the house; when Jesus heals the blind man we see with him that men "look like trees, walking" (Mark 8.22-26). The verses immediately before today's passage from John's Gospel show us Jesus washing his disciples' feet, knowing he is about to die. This is an active parable of servanthood. Imagine his tenderness as he holds each foot, absorbing the sights, sounds and smells around him, and remembering the memories of their three years together. As Jesus passes the piece of bread to Judas, do their hands touch accidentally, and does he glance with pity at his disciple knowing what the betrayal will do to the latter's soul?

So Judas departs, with the memory of the Lord's touch on his feet, the look of sorrow in his master's eyes, with his words echoing in his head, and with the taste of the bread still in his mouth. He heads away from Lord of light, into the inky blackness of the night.

Lord Jesus Christ,
Lord of Light,
and Saviour of Your people,
as we travel with You this week
towards Good Friday,
may we uses our senses
and our imagination
to immerse ourselves
in the last days of Your life on earth
in order to understand
what You went through
so that might be free from
our burden of sin.
Amen.