Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share GOSPEL POWER - MARCH 31, 2021 - WEDNESDAY
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
GOSPEL POWER - MARCH 31, 2021 - WEDNESDAY
GOSPEL POWER - MARCH 31, 2021 - WEDNESDAY
Gospel: Mt 26:14-25
Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.
REFLECTION
By opening this episode with an identification of Judas Iscariot as “one of the Twelve,” Matthew drives home the gravity of this treacherous act. It is somebody from the intimate inner circle who turns into a mercenary and sells his Lord for a meager price. Judas represents the shadowy and tragic side of discipleship — the lowest point to which any believer, even today, can be driven by disillusionment and broken loyalty. Two strands of the mystery of salvation are tightly woven in this episode. One strand portrays the death of Jesus not merely as the tragic result of a friend’s betrayal. Rather, it is the fulfillment of what has been prophesied in the Scripture. The other strand depicts Judas not only as a helpless pawn who must carry out what has been prophesied. Rather, he is a free person making choices and decisions whose consequences he must bear.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, help us to understand the grave responsibility that comes with the gift of freedom, and give us the grace to live as free and responsible children of God. Amen.
View all episodes
By Daughters of St. Paul | Phil-Malaysia- PNG-Thai Province
5
11 ratings
GOSPEL POWER - MARCH 31, 2021 - WEDNESDAY
Gospel: Mt 26:14-25
Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.
REFLECTION
By opening this episode with an identification of Judas Iscariot as “one of the Twelve,” Matthew drives home the gravity of this treacherous act. It is somebody from the intimate inner circle who turns into a mercenary and sells his Lord for a meager price. Judas represents the shadowy and tragic side of discipleship — the lowest point to which any believer, even today, can be driven by disillusionment and broken loyalty. Two strands of the mystery of salvation are tightly woven in this episode. One strand portrays the death of Jesus not merely as the tragic result of a friend’s betrayal. Rather, it is the fulfillment of what has been prophesied in the Scripture. The other strand depicts Judas not only as a helpless pawn who must carry out what has been prophesied. Rather, he is a free person making choices and decisions whose consequences he must bear.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, help us to understand the grave responsibility that comes with the gift of freedom, and give us the grace to live as free and responsible children of God. Amen.