Nil desperandum

(To the Sources)

‘…Surely, you don’t mean me?…’ (Matthew 26:22)

From Matthew 26:14-25 (Year A: Holy Week/Wednesday)

Yes I do mean you (name) is the answer!  There is a Judas, a Peter, a John, a Mary, a Martha … in all of us.  Judas has had a very bad press for the last 2,000 years. Some suggest (incredibly I would think) that he may have been trying to ‘out’ Jesus by forcing his hand to declare his Kingdom? Rightly, the Gospels are hard on Judas because of his conscious, treacherous act. But, Judas’ real downfall was his apparent despairing of any mercy. Later in the Gospel of Matthew it is written:

“When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ‘I have sinned,’ he said, ‘for I have betrayed innocent blood.” (Matthew 27:3-5)

At least Peter did not despair. Neither should any of us. Yes, the warning from Jesus to one who will betray his trust is directed, at least potentially, to each one of us. We are at least as capable as Judas of going seriously astray. That’s why we need to be ever vigilant. The positive point is that as long as we breathe we can hope of doing better than yesterday and doing better tomorrow than today. Dum spiro spero – while I breathe I hope.