The Fall of Judas
As we enter into Holy Week, we must approach the Scripture readings of Mass with the understanding that every word from the readings being used for this week relate directly to the passion and death of Jesus Christ. God ultimately came to us in the form of a man in order to use humanity to undo the damage caused by the fall of Adam. What was once such an unfortunate experience in the story of humanity was reverted by God into the greatest gift He could have ever given humanity. At the end of this week during the Easter Vigil, we will hear the words: “O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!” He took our Fall and turned it into our Salvation.
We should not look at the first humans, the cause of the First Fall, as particularly wicked or evil individuals. In fact, they knew God in a much more personal and loving way than we do. However, they were still human and prone to the limits of our free will existing alongside our desires. Sadly, this led Original Sin to enter into humanity, which led to God becoming incarnate so that He may offer a perfect sacrifice on our behalf to atone for Original Sin. Though we fell into sin, both through our parents and individually, there has always been the opportunity for us to return to God through the forgiveness attained for us by Christ. Likewise, we should recall the figure of Judas as someone just like us - he was called by Christ personally and desired to follow him. He must have been a faithful, good, and holy man at one point (at least exteriorly) or else his selection and active ministry as one of the twelve would have been scandalous. But just like Adam, Judas had his own fall, a lapse that paved the way to the passion of Christ and that he personally could never forgive himself for. When did this desire arise in the heart of Judas? Perhaps it was something that built up over time, maybe due to the fact that Jesus was not who he thought he was or maybe even due to his desire for worldly things. But we do have a clear catalyst in the Gospels that was the last straw for Judas: the use of expensive perfumed oil to anoint Christ rather than to be sold for the poor. Judas is the one who takes issue with this, and it is our last story of him before his betrayal. It didn’t matter if Judas genuinely wished for the cost of the perfume to be spent on the poor, or if he said this from a selfish perspective because he was in charge of the purse for the entire group; Christ corrected him either way.
While Judas was angered at the apparent waste of expensive oil, he ultimately betrayed Christ for material goods. It is astonishing how often we hear literally the exact same sentiment being expressed today to attack the Catholic Church, both by Catholics and non-Catholics alike: we should sell our opulent churches and sacramentals and give them to the poor since that seems like the more “Catholic” thing to do. But we do not use these majestic things to clothe ourselves in glory, but to clothe God’s house in glory. To do anything less would be disrespectful to God, and Judas’ excuse found even in the modern age is a cunning trick of the Devil. We cannot fall into the same mindset that ultimately took Judas and led him away from God by manipulating what he considered to be good. Within Scripture is a blueprint to help us live a proper Christian life in the midst of obstacles trying to make it more difficult. Don’t follow the crowds or their cunning ploys; instead, follow God and appreciate His physical presence when it is available.
Today's Readings:
