In today’s Gospel, John 12 1-11, Jesus is at Bethany , where
Mary and Martha prepare a dinner for him.
Among the crowd gathered in
Bethany was Judas Iscariot who was, along with the chief priests, looking for a
way to betray Jesus. When Mary pours a
liter of costly perfumed oil over Jesus’ feet, Judas protested: “Why was this
oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” He was not
at all interested in the poor; he was a thief who stole from the purse, the
money bag entrusted to him. His betrayal
of Jesus started long before that horrible evening in Gethsemane. He betrays Him in little things, that is, in his
dishonesty of the trust Jesus had placed in him as the keeper of the
purse. He’s been stealing all along and
covering up his dishonesty. None of the
apostles at the Last Supper, are aware that one of their own is in cahoots with
the chief priests. Who, so close to
Jesus these past three years would do such a thing, they must of wondered. And here he is at a dinner at Lazarus’ house—the
friend whom Jesus raised from the dead—protesting Mary’s generosity toward
Jesus! Doesn’t Judas know that this is
the Son of God, the Christ, the Lord’s Anointed One?
We, too, might be floored. However, each one of us has a
Judas inside of us, that part of us that betrays friends, that part of us that
does not recognize Christ in our neighbor, that part of us that protests the
generosity of others, that engages in dishonest schemes from time to time. And
none of us is condemned by Jesus, not even Judas. The first reading of today’s liturgy, Isaiah
42: 1-7, reminds us that “a bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering
wick he shall not quench.” No, each of
us has been called “for the victory of justice” (Isaiah 42: 6). God has grasped
each of us “by the hand” (Isaiah 42: 6) and rescued us from Satan’s snares when Jesus was
crucified, died and rose from the dead. The “perfumed oil” of redemption has
been poured out upon our feet and we are thoroughly cleansed of our sin.
What an awesome God, a God of compassion and mercy toward
all who call upon Him in truth!
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