Today is the Wednesday of Holy Week. In tonight’s reading, from John 13:21-30, we read the catastrophic narrative of Judas’ decision to betray Jesus. Judas makes a conscious decision to betray his Lord, and thereafter Satan enters him, and then he goes into the night, into the dark. He makes a choice to turn away from the light. He abandons his belief in the light, ceases to walk in the light (choosing rather to walk in the dark) and relinquishes his sonship of God – all the things we reflected on last night in the message ‘Into the light‘. It is a tragic story, as when Judas finally realises what he has done, he can find no forgiveness and takes his own life. There is a cautionary tale in this – to believe in the light, to walk in the light and to become children of light.
Watch the video of this message at https://fb.watch/4AvYOqTk25/. The reading starts at about 20 minutes into the recording, while the sermon starts at about 31 minutes and runs for 14 minutes.
Click here to listen to this 6-minute message. Or watch the video below. Or read the brief summary below the video.
As we move through the days of Holy Week, the set readings become increasingly somber and serious. We are progressing closer and closer towards Jesus’ death on Good Friday. Today’s reading is John 13:21-32, which tells of Jesus’ betrayal by Judas. In verse 21, John writes,
Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me”.
The disciples immediately say to each other, “Surely not I! Who could he be referring to?” Jesus says,
“It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”
He dips the bread into a dish and hands it to Judas. I imagine Judas, who was indeed planning to betray Jesus, looking at the piece of dipped bread in Jesus’ hand and wondering what to do. I imagine his thoughts racing, prevaricating – do I or don’t I?
He takes the bread from Jesus and eats it. I chooses betrayal. And so, Jesus’ path to the cross is set in motion.
This passage challenges us to recognise that each of us is also complicit in Jesus’ betrayal. Judas acts on behalf of me and of you. Our sin does not have a be dramatic or public; it can include the little things that we do and also the things we neglect to do. We each have helped pave the way to the cross.
We are thus called to repentance during these days of Lent and particularly over the coming few days. Let us pray Psalm 51:
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
I have been redeployed from the church I’ve attended for over 20 years (St Martin-in-the-Fields) to a new church, not too far away (St Stephens, Lyttelton) as part of my curacy. Today was the first time I have preached to this new parish, so it was a good opportunity to lay down what is most important to my faith and that what is most prominent in my preaching. And it is this:
God is most essentially and completely LOVE. The three persons of the Godhead (Father, Son and Spirit) have been in eternal relationship with one another since before the creation of time and space. It is the profound love between these three persons that makes the one being. God created time and space out of a fullness of love. God created humanity out of a generosity of love, to be shared. And God’s actions throughout human history embody and describe love. Love that is fierce, generous, extravagant, radically inclusive, steadfast and unshakable.
Today’s reading from John 13:34-35 sets out Jesus’ command to us:
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
In this message, I provide the context in which Jesus delivered this message – a context that represents on the crisis points in his ministry, characterised by betrayal, denial and isolation.
And I set out what is ‘new’ about old command to love, viz. the source of our capacity to love and the missional impact of our love for one another.
Reflections of God's Love 
