Spy Wednesday (Midweek)

Spy Wednesday

Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message

April 17, 2019

Holy Week is a great sacramental participation in the saving acts of God.   It is not focused so much on the externals of what Jesus did and what happened to him that last week of his life as it is focused on the internal meaning and emotional dynamics of them.  We participate in the events, and feel along with the characters in the story.  Thus, the great message of Holy Week is that Jesus understands us, is one of us, and that no matter what we experience or endure, Jesus has been there before us. 

One clear message is how swiftly things can change in our lives:  Jesus is taken from the adoring Hosannas of crowds of Palm Sunday to the murderous mob’s cries “Crucify him!” in just days.  He is taken from his unhappiness at and cursing of the fruitless fig tree, and from his grim whip-lashing driving out the money-changers in the Temple courtyard, into the luminous intimacy of the Last Supper just as quickly. 

Then on to the Way of the Cross, with death in despair, followed quickly by the overturning of all expectations in the Resurrection.  We should not be overwhelmed by the sudden and unexpected changes, for good or ill, in our lives:  Jesus has been here before. 

This is a key part of Christian spirituality.  A line in a reading from today’s morning prayer expresses it: “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will, in Christ Jesus, guard your hearts and your minds. … Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen… and the God of peace will be with you” (Ephesians 4:6-7, 9).  

Wednesday in Holy Week is when the story shifts: it is called Spy Sunday because in tradition this is when Judas makes his first approach to the people who pay him to betray Jesus.   We know very little about Judas except that he was one of the Twelve chosen by Jesus, and betrayed him  It is possible that he, alone of the Twelve, was not from Galilee, but from Judea.  His motive in betraying Jesus was probably not for gain: he had been following Jesus in poverty and begging for months at least.  More likely was a desire to force God’s hand:  if Jesus were taken by his enemies, then God would act and support his Messiah, destroying the wicked and heralding the Reign of God in power.   As soon as he realizes this is not to be, he tries to return the money.  When he fails in this act of amendment, he kills himself in an act of mixed despair and accusing protest against the people who have so callously used him. 

Judas’ sin, in a word, was wanting to have God only on his own terms.  Trying to force God’s hand is never successful.  Trying to control and dictate the course of our lives is a hopeless effort, doomed to end in despair. 

But accepting what life throws at us with its varied and rapid shifts, and always trying to do the next right thing put in front of us in whatever circumstances, is what Jesus calls us to: pick up your cross and follow me. 

Grace and peace.