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Reflections > Lent 2009

Finding Ourselves
in the Cast of Characters
by Sr. Kathleen Burns

The evangelists give us a grand cast of characters who respond to the suffering Messiah in a variety of ways. Our first response to the reading of the passion may be to enter into the story in melodramatic fashion booing and hissing at the villains. But as we reflect more deeply, we may be surprised to find that at different junctures of our lives, we have actually identified with one or more of them.

Judas
Judas, the betrayer, is perhaps the most controversial figure. Jesus’ own condemnation of him “... but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born” (Mark 14:21), causes shivers to run up our spines. Surely we do not think of ourselves as betrayers of Jesus, but even if Judas’ act of betrayal is repugnant to us, we may still find ourselves struggling with some of Judas’ desires. At first glance, it may seem that Judas’ actions were motivated by greed. Perhaps this is so, but his rejection of the “blood money” betrays another deeper motive.

Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was not a single act that happened in isolation. Handing Jesus over to the leaders was the culmination of a long process of misunderstanding and disillusionment. Judas had dreams for the Messiah that Jesus was not fulfilling. The kingdom was coming about much too slowly and so Judas felt that Jesus had to be pushed into the limelight. Surely, if Jesus were cornered with his back against the wall, he would have to show his power and glory for all to see. Judas had neither grasped nor accepted that Jesus was the Lamb of God and that the kingdom would come about through suffering.

For Judas, perhaps Jesus was merely an idea and his kingdom an ideology. We sense no real relationship between these two men. Judas was not committed to the person of Jesus, but rather to the idea of the type of Messiah he had hoped Jesus would be. When Jesus did not come through for him, Judas abandoned ship. He had staked everything on Jesus’ trial, hoping it would become the vehicle for this new movement. Judas was devastated when Jesus did not mesmerize the leaders or the people, but instead went silently like a lamb led to slaughter (Isaiah 53:7).  Perhaps, then, it was Judas who first felt betrayed by Jesus.

How many people have turned away from the faith because they felt that they had been let down by God?

How often have we felt that God should have come through for us and did not?

How have we clung to our preconception of how God would act and then had our hopes dashed?

Like Judas and our first parents in the Garden of Eden,
have we too been duped into the illusion that we can fashion God into our own image and likeness?

Our God cannot be tamed.

That is a hard lesson for us to learn. Jesus, the God-man, hanging on the cross challenges our preconceived ideas as to what our God is like and how our God should act. Judas would not accept a crucified God. Do we?

We can examine what we may have in common with Judas:

• Is Jesus merely an idea and his kingdom an ideology?
• Do I cast Jesus and his kingdom according to my own personal ideology or views?
• Am I committed to Jesus’ vision of the kingdom?