Whilst living in Yeovil we enjoyed taking friends who
were visiting us around St John’s Church, called the ‘Lantern of The West’
because of its huge windows.
One of these is an ‘Apostles’ Window’ depicting The Twelve. Each of them is represented and honoured with
a golden halo, except Judas. His is
black.
At this time of year we recall Judas’ part in the story as the ‘betrayer’, and the recurring question comes to
us once more: did he, and does he deserve a black halo?
Treasurers, and that’s the position Judas was entrusted with by the others, are
normally reliable and honourable people.
For three years Jesus and the eleven had looked to Judas for their daily
bread. He settled up their expenses and
made the practical side of life as comfortable as possible. No doubt Jesus had had many ‘quiet words’
with him in the past, requesting, perhaps, a gift to help out a disciple’s
family back home, or something extra be purchased to make this week’s Shabbat
meal a little special as a birthday celebration. On Maundy Thursday Jesus’ final ‘quiet word’
with Judas is full of deep sadness and dignified resignation. ‘Do whatever you have to’.
Of course, John is telling us all this overlaying his narrative with his own
interpretation of that night’s cruelty.
So, he depicts Judas’ actions as evil.
Part of the diabolical momentum that’s now running which will see Jesus
executed at the cross.
And Jesus is very close to the cross as he now sits for
one last time reclining at table alongside his friends. And there’s the rub. One of them was friend no longer but enemy. The enemy within.
It’s Jesus’ reaction to disappointment, and here
particularly his intense disappointment with Judas, that speaks to me
most. It’s as if he realises that after
three years of such close companionship when so many words must have been
spoken and discussions had, Jesus knows he hasn’t won Judas over to his version
of servanthood Messiahship. Judas is a
zealot, or at least he’s prepared to use zealot tactics, pushing Jesus into a
crisis moment of confrontation, maybe
with the hope that his arrest will trigger anger and aggression in Jesus, a
call to arms against the oppression of the Romans.
It's conjecture, it’s our yearly attempt at trying to understand Judas
Iscariot, friend turned foe.
Does he deserve the black halo he wears in St John’s
Parish Church in Yeovil? Answers of a
postcard!
I’m not sure the distribution of halos is ever wise,
for don’t all of us combine in our lives the character of both saint and
sinner?
What I’m surer of, is the honour due to Jesus at this lonely moment. The time for debate with Judas is over, he
knows he must now accept the consequences of his treasurer’s duplicity. Yet he does this with quiet dignity and
without rancour towards his friend.
Holy Week surely teaches us that the struggles are
rarely taken away, what’s important is how we face them. Jesus faced his with an acceptance that this
was the only way forward. And, having
accepted that pathway he walked it in a spirit of forgives to others and trust
in God his Father.
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