April 5, 2023 / 12:01 a.m.
Holy Wednesday, concludes the lent and, at the same time, the first part of the Easter, the Greater Week. Tomorrow, Thursday, the Pascual Triduum begins, the core of the Church’s celebrations.
On this day, the darkest episode in the life of Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve. Today comes to our minds, following the Holy Scriptures, the night in which the Iscariot meets with the Sanhedrin, a Jewish religious court, and agrees with its members to surrender Jesus, in exchange for 30 coins.
The plan to kill Jesus is underway. For this reason, many refer to Holy Wednesday as “the first day of mourning for the Church.”
About today’s Gospel
Today’s Gospel reading is taken from Saint Matthew 26, 14-25. Jesus and the twelve are waiting for Easter. The introductory verses record the moment when Jesus is betrayed:
“Then one of the Twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said to them: ‘What do you want to give me, and I will give it to you?’ They gave him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he was looking for an opportunity to deliver him »(Jn 26, 14-16).
While Judas consummated his betrayal, not far away, Jesus suffered hours of anguish.
The Iscariot, in his hardened heart, in his short gaze, had decided to give up his friend and Master. The doubts “had dissipated” for him: Jesus had been a disappointment to him, someone who did not meet his “standards” or expectations; or, if there were even the slightest chance left, suddenly, faced with death, Jesus would “wake up” and rebel against the Roman invader. Thus his disappointment would disappear completely and make him the hero who precipitated the “revolution” in Israel. None of this happened in the end.
And if there ever was a desire to give the Lord “one last chance”, it would certainly not have been born out of faith or hope, much less love.
By handing over the Master for thirty coins, Judas, who presumed to be the most astute of the disciples, made it clear that he had not understood anything and that, therefore, he would have to fail in all the calculations. Believing himself alive, he could already be counted among the dead:
“And while they ate, [Jesús] He said: “I assure you that one of you will betray me.”
Very saddened, they began to say one by one: “Is it me, Lord?” He replied: “He who has dipped his hand with me in the dish, he will hand me over. The Son of man goes away, as it is written about him, but woe to him by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would be better for that man not to have been born!” Then Judas, the one who was going to deliver him, asked: “Is it me, Rabbi?” Say to him: “Yes, you have said it”» (Jn 26, 21-25).