He Sought to Betray Him

Gospel Reflection for Wednesday March 27th, 2024

Courtesy of Wikipedia

“Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, and said, ‘What will you give me if I deliver him to you?’ And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.” Matthew 26:14-16

Traditionally, the Wednesday of Holy Week is called Spy Wednesday as this is the day that Judas Iscariot agreed to betray Our Blessed Lord to the chief priests and hand Him over. By this action, Judas becomes a spy for the enemies of the Lord. This leads us to today’s Gospel in which we hear of Judas’ meeting with the chief priests and his agreement to essentially sell Our Lord. There are multiple parts of this narrative that are worth looking at today.

“Then one of the twelve…” It is clear from the Gospels that Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve men that Our Lord set aside from among all of His disciples. He intentionally chose these twelve men to be set aside for a great mission, one that ultimately gets given to them after the resurrection.¹ It must be understood that Judas had a share in this ministry. This is confirmed multiple times in scripture, most directly in the Book of Acts from the mouth of St. Peter himself:

“In those days Peter stood among the brethren (the company of persons was all about a hundred and twenty), and said, ‘Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David, concerning Judas who was the guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us, and was allotted his share in this ministry… For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in I’; and ‘His office let another take.’” Acts 1:15-17,20.

Here, St. Peter is revealing the nature of the position that Judas held. He was clearly numbered among the Apostles as one who was ‘sent out’ by Christ to minister to the people. Peter says that Judas was allotted his share in this ministry, that is to say, he was commissioned along with the 11. St. Peter further identifies the great office that Judas held, that of Apostle and Bishop and that another should take this office. We know from this same chapter in Acts of the Apostles that it is St. Matthias that takes Judas’ office. The logical question then, is why in the world did Christ, who knows all things, choose Judas to be an Apostle? A line from today’s Gospel sheds some light:

“The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of Him…” Matthew 26:24

Christ is affirming that this was the plan of God all along, it was prophesied in the Old Testament that the Messiah would be betrayed.² But more than that, the selection of Judas also sheds light on the possibility of later scandals in the church. The Catholic Church has a long history of clergy who have brought scandal. Christ allowed there to be scandal from the very beginning to give us a lesson. Christ patiently suffers the scandal of Judas leading to His own passion to give an example of how we are to suffer the scandal of bad clergy in our own time. Essentially, this is nothing new. We are to stay close to Christ in times of scandal, suffering with Him because He knows betrayal well. We should never leave Christ because of Judas.

“[Judas] went to the chief priests…” There are multiple points within the Gospels where the chief priests are enraged by the actions of Christ and resolve to have Him killed. The beginning of Chapter 26 in Matthew’s Gospel, where we take today’s reading from, cites such an occasion:

“Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and took counsel together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him.” Matthew 26:3-4.

The previous three days in Jerusalem were extraordinarily eventful surrounding Christ. From His triumphant entry into the city with people glorifying Him as the Messiah,³ the casting out of the moneychangers from the temple,⁴ the denouncing of the Pharisees as hypocrites,⁵ and finally the prophecy of the destruction of the temple.⁶ All of these events and more stir up the hatred of the elders to seek the death of Christ. This is where Judas enters for his own gain.

This inevitably begs the question, was Judas free to act or was he bound by some kind of fate to betray Christ? We have to affirm that Judas acted of his own accord. God does not create a person and take away their free will. Judas saw and heard what the other Apostles did, but Judas lacked the faith necessary to persevere to the end.

“And they paid him thirty pieces of silver…” To readers of the Old Testament, this monetary amount should be familiar. In chapter 21 of the Book of Exodus, Moses lays down the laws concerning how the Israelites should deal with slaves. Within this chapter, there is a reference to the price that must be paid for a lost slave, in particular, one who was lost to an owner through death:

“If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.” Exodus 21:32

The price that Judas sells Our Lord for is the price of a slave. This fulfills what the Lord said through the Prophet Zechariah, “And they weighed out as my wages thirty shekels of silver.”⁷

“…he sought an opportunity to betray him.” In his commentary on this passage, St. Thomas Aquinas reveals the secret nature of Judas’ betrayal. He says:

“Here the solicitude is set down. And why did he do this? To commit the crime more easily and in a more hidden manner, as is often the case with those who are sinning, for, everyone who does evil hates the light, and comes not to the light (John 3:20); and, the eye of the adulterer observes darkness, saying: no eye will see me (Job 24:15).”⁸

Judas has left the light and entered the darkness. He has given himself completely over to the evil one. He who was chosen from among men for such an extraordinary role, has rejected it for the love of the world. The depths of this betrayal are such that St. John tells us that Satan entered Judas, “So when He had dipped the morsel, He gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘What you are going to do, do quickly.’”⁹ It is this great evil that occasions Our Blessed Lord to say of Judas:

“…woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” Matthew 26:24.

As we move into the sacred Triduum, Spy Wednesday serves as a sort of precursor to the suffering that Our Lord undergoes throughout His passion. In many ways, this is the beginning of the Passion of Christ. The betrayal of Judas is certainly felt deep in the Sacred Heart. Christ knew from the first moment that Judas would betray Him and yet called Him anyway. He knew that Judas would sell Him for the price of a slave and yet loved him to the end. The sad reality is, Judas could have come back, even after the betrayal. The unfathomable depths of the Divine Mercy of the Lord is always ready to forgive. Judas turned away and could not be saved.

Today, as we move into the most sacred time of the Church’s calendar, let us reflect on the suffering that this betrayal inflicted on Our Blessed Lord. Let us learn to be patient in suffering especially when caused by someone close to us. And most importantly, let us not flee the merciful love of Christ because of Judas.

A blessed Triduum to you all.

1. Cf. Matthew 28:16-20.

2. “Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted his heel against me.” Psalm 41:9

3. Cf. Matthew 21:1-11.

4. Cf. Matthew 21:12-17.

5. Cf. Matthew 23:1-36.

6. Cf. Matthew 24.

7. Zechariah 11:12.

8. St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, 2149.

9. John 13:26-27.