The Three Apostles
The story of Christ’s passion begins with the Last Supper. This was one of the most significant moments in human history - through this meal, the history of Judaism was re-lived, the moment for humanity’s salvation began, and the greatest gift ever given (the Eucharist) was shared for the first time. However, no one who participated in this meal except for Christ understood the gravity of this moment; because of this, the true nature of the followers of Christ were revealed when they acted out of their instincts. Christ chose his followers carefully. He knew who they were, what their strengths and weaknesses were, and how they would serve him. But in his divine wisdom, Christ also chose these followers so that they served as a method of teaching Christians how we should and should not respond to our mission.
The Gospel for this Tuesday of Holy Week mentions three of Christ’s apostles, each revealing valuable lessons about what God wants from us: Peter, John, and Judas. The first words we hear from Christ, though, is that one of the individuals eating with him will betray him. We can only imagine how each individual felt in this moment: doubt, insecurity, and fear should have struck the hearts of each one of the men. But only one, Judas, knew that he was the one Jesus referred to. Christ suffered greatly throughout his passion, but knowing how much he loves us and what he was willing to do to save us from sin, it is entirely possible that Judas’ betrayal was his greatest pain. Judas was one the twelve. He served, ministered, healed the sick, obeyed the orders of Christ, and yet he could not control his greed, ambition, or envy when it mattered most. Still, in Christ’s love for him, he did not betray Judas to the others, since they continued to all think it might be them. This particular detail may be overlooked: in the scene, Judas is handed the morsel from Christ when Christ mentions it as the identifier of the betrayer. But in this moment of the meal, all of the Apostles sitting at the table would have been receiving a dipped morsel from Christ, which would have led any of them to still consider the betrayer to be themselves. It is just as helpful for us to remain vigilant at our own shortcomings; at any moment, we could easily fall into the same temptations that Judas fell into.
Among the other two apostles, we see the dichotomy in all Christians: Peter is insecure but is the most faithful believer. John is the most confident and loving. John’s reaction to Christ’s revelation of betrayal is to remain by his side out of love. In his heart, he knew that he would not betray his master. But Peter is far more reluctant. His reaction and the following conversation he has with Christ shows an insecure person who is afraid that he might be the one Jesus speaks of. Throughout his public ministry, Peter was reproved and chastised by Christ, all the more reason why he might consider himself the one to betray him. With the addition of the revelation that Peter would deny him three times, this must have been a moment of great anguish for him. Still, Peter was the one who was given primacy, authority, and trust by Christ over the others. While John loved, Peter believed. We have three options as Christians: we can abandon Christ and despair in our sinfulness like Judas, we can love him unconditionally like John, or we can rejoice in the hope and conversion of believing in Christ like Peter, even after we betray or deny him. Not all of us are going to be as consistent as John, but at least Peter gives us hope that even the weakest among us can assent to God’s calling.
Today's Readings:
