Today is Wednesday of Holy week.

Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence. And say, “Come Holy Spirit.” 

Assist me mercifully with your help, O Lord God of our salvation, that I may enter with joy upon the contemplation of those mighty acts, whereby you have given us life and immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
  
Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John, chapter 13.
  

After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” 
His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” 
Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 
Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. 
So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night. 
When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.


Here you are with Jesus on the night before his crucifixion and death. But nothing of that is in your mind at the moment. You’ve just finished the Passover meal. Imagine that you are the disciple, John. This is the Gospel he wrote and when he writes about “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, he is speaking in third person about himself. I am the one reclining next to Jesus. I am the one Jesus loves. I am the one who is completely known by him, yet completely secure in his love for me.

But once again there is tension in the room. Not just commotion, there’s always commotion. But tension. This time it’s Jesus. It’s Jesus who is troubled in spirit. We can all feel it. But I’m not sure how I feel about that. Jesus is the steady one. The rock. The voice of reason and truth. And now he speaks of betrayal. And now he speaks again in riddle. And as I watch him dip the bread in the bowl and hand it to Judas, I feel a mixture of concern, and conviction, and care for this one who cares so much for me.
 
But when Judas leaves there is once again peace. And words of glory, glory, glory, glory, glory. Five times he speaks of glory. And once again, I am brought back to the magnificence, the honor, the majesty, the worth, the loveliness, the grandeur of this man Jesus. Yes, he is one like me but he is so much more than one like me. He is so other than me. And the only way to describe him is glory.   

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that I, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Music: Have Mercy - Heaven and Earth - (YouTube)