God Is Bigger Than Our Trials

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟏𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐘 𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐘

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟓𝟎:𝟒-𝟗

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟔𝟗:𝟖-𝟏𝟎, 𝟐𝟏-𝟐𝟐, 𝟑𝟏, 𝟐𝟐-𝟑𝟒 “𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟐𝟔:𝟏𝟒-𝟐𝟓

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “…𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒆.” (𝒗.21)

The betrayal of Jesus by one of his trusted disciples – Judas Iscariot – has become the subject of many debates and numerous assumptions have been made as to why Judas did it. And to this day, no one can exactly say why Judas betrayed Jesus and it would probably remain as the world’s greatest secret.

For one, this act of betrayal as depicted in 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟔:𝟏𝟒-𝟐𝟓 can only be explained by Judas himself but whatever the reason was, he carried it with him to his grave. Another reason why it will remain so is because no one among the 11 remaining Apostles talked about it. Even Jesus upon his Resurrection never raised the issue with his disciples.

While the betrayal was recorded by all four Gospel writers (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟔:𝟏𝟒-𝟐𝟓; 𝐌𝐤 𝟏𝟒:𝟏𝟕-𝟐𝟏; 𝐋𝐤 𝟐𝟐:𝟑-𝟔; 𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟑:𝟐𝟏-𝟑𝟎) the aftermath was only recorded by Matthew who wrote: “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑱𝒖𝒅𝒂𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅.” (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 27:3-4)

Perhaps the Apostles thought it was no longer necessary to even discuss it among them. It was also possible they were embarrassed that Jesus was betrayed by one of the 12 Apostles who comprise his inner core of disciples.

From among the numerous assumptions related to the act of betrayal the most plausible that could be nearer to the truth was the view that it was not the intention of Judas to see Jesus die on the cross. The fact that he was seized with remorse (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟕:𝟑) adds weight to this perception.

Some scholars also hold the view that if Judas really intended to see Jesus die, he could have sold him for a much higher price. As it was, the thirty pieces was not much even in those days and the fact that he returned it to the chief priests only shows that his motive was not money.

The general sentiment to which we tend to agree was that Judas must have felt that Jesus was proceeding too slowly and not acting aggressively enough in setting up his messianic kingdom. Judas may have thought that his arrest would compel Jesus to act in accordance with the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah that God promised and who would save the people of Israel from bondage. The undoing of Judas was that he became impatient and refused to accept Jesus as he was.

Origen, a 3rd century bible scholar and one of the Early Church Fathers said: “𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘴’𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦.” (𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵 78.)

And for us to appreciate the beauty of this event when Jesus ate the Passover meal with his 12 Apostles we need to harness our creative minds and look beneath the Gospel reading itself. Jesus knew what would befall him and as he ate the Passover meal with his Apostles, he told them: “𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒆.” (𝒗.21)

Imagine the surprise of the Apostles who reacted in unison: “𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝑰, 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅?” (𝒗.22) and Jesus gave a clue as to who will betray him when he said: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒆.” (𝒗.23)

But John’s account, I believe, captures the mood and atmosphere at that very moment when Jesus said: “𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒉.” (𝑱𝒏 13:26) Then dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟑:𝟐𝟕).

Since not everything that Jesus did was written (𝐉𝐧 𝟐𝟏:𝟐𝟓) let us try to explore this moving event. As Jesus knew that his earthly ministry was coming to an end, it was probable that Jesus and Judas were in a time capsule by themselves with the other Apostles unaware of what was with Jesus and Judas.

Being the God that he is, Jesus could have stopped this act of betrayal if he wanted to, but he did not. What Jesus did was he tried to reach out to Judas not just by giving him the piece of bread but also by saying that he knew there was one among the 12 who will betray him. This would have been enough to stop Judas from his plan.

And for the Master to break bread and give it to Judas was an expression of his great love for Judas. This act was a last-minute appeal of Jesus for Judas to abort his plan but this was how far God will go as he also respects the free will of man. The rest is history as they say, and we all know that Judas went to the Sanhedrin and betrayed Jesus.

What this Gospel passage is telling us is that the circumstances that moved Judas to betray Jesus are still present today. And Paul saw its influence on the people of Galatia – sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, and orgies (𝐆𝐚𝐥 𝟓:𝟐𝟐).

Today, we can add the pending bill on the legalization of divorce as a betrayal of our Christian faith in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. And now the same Judases are now floating proposals that they will be filing bills aimed at legalizing abortion and same-sex marriage. Add to this – avarice, greed, disobedience and the insatiable appetite to accumulate wealth by any other means that permeate in our society today highlighted by the highly anomalous passage of the national budget that contains questionable appropriations.

When we refuse to accept Jesus, it is when we are at our weakest and like Judas this is when Satan influences our will that will lead us to commit these sins that St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians.

As we journey with Jesus through this Holy Week, let us be aware that we also are guilty of betraying God whenever we sin. The Good News is that God’s compassion and forgiveness are readily available to those who will repent of their sins. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 16, 2025)