Looks Like a Duck?

Scripture Passage: John 13:21-32

Today’s Gospel comes from St John’s account of the evening of Jesus’ betrayal. In this account, Jesus doesn’t institute the supper as a memorial or sacred meal in the way that Paul records it in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, nor does it look like the meal described by the other Gospels. Rather, in John’s account the meal is the setting for the washing of his disciples’ feet, his betrayal by Judas, his commandment about loving one another, and so forth. What is so striking about this reading, though, is that the act that Jesus commands in the other accounts of the last supper – to receive bread – is the act by which Judas is singled out as the one who will betray Jesus. “[The one who will betray me] is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”

In what ways do we betray Jesus even as we go through the motions and gestures and practices of faith that seem so right and holy? How can the signs and symbols of our faith become signs and symbols of betrayal, or at the least empty gestures that do little point us to Christ? Rather than reject traditional gestures and practices, in these holy days commit yourself more deeply to them, so that you might find in them meaning and through their practice draw closer to Christ.

Let us pray:
Father in Heaven, as we prepare for your Son’s Holy Passion, prepare our hearts by your Spirit to receive Him with genuine faith and earnest hope for the coming of his Kingdom. Through your Son Jesus we pray. Amen.

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