Reclining
at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen,
amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one
another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom
Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find
out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him,
“Master, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel
after I have dipped it.”So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to
Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered
him. So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now none of
those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that
since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, “Buy what we need for the
feast,” or to give something to the poor. So Judas took the morsel and left at
once. And it was night.
When
he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified
in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and
he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little
while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go
you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”
Simon
Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I
am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.” Peter said
to him, “Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for
you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to
you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.”
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Reflection:
Would you agree that there are times that you sin and thus betray
the Lord?
Whether we admit it not there are really times that we succumb to the
temptation of Satan. Thus, we sin and we create distance between us and the
Lord Jesus Christ. However, even if we sin or betray the Lord we still are not
beyond redemption. Jesus loves us so dearly that He will always forgive us no
matter how many times we sin or betray Him.
In the gospel we read about Jesus alluding to His betrayal by Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. How could Judas
betray his Lord and Master? It seems unthinkable for this apostle to betray his
teacher and master but it happened. Why? This is for the reason that Judas allowed
Satan to take control of him.
But
what is sad in Judas betrayal is it led to his self-inflicted death. Judas
could have returned to the Lord but he did not he instead chose to wallow in desperation
and it culminated by his suicide. If only Judas knew that Jesus was waiting for
his return he would not have killed himself.
As
long as we exist in this world Satan and his many sinful enticements would
always be there to temp us. And many of us would succumb to these sinful
temptations. However we must not forget that no matter how grave our sins are
we are not beyond redemption.
The
Lord Jesus is always waiting for us to go back to Him! He is ever ready to embrace us
again with His Forgiveness, Mercy and unconditional Love. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
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