“Today Judas watches how he may deliver up the Lord” (Matins, Antiphon Six). These are frightening words, and yet, if we think that we are so different than Judas, we have missed the point of the previous forty days. Every time we sin, we betray Jesus again; every transgression crucifies him again; every iniquity adds to his wounds. To our shame, with every bad word we have uttered, we cry out, “Crucify him!” with the crowd. Today, it is not with pride, but with pain of heart, that we witness our Savior crucified. And yet, despite our betrayal, the Messiah offers his life for the sake of our redemption. By the grace of God, though we are no different than Judas in sin, yet we are distinguished from him in hope: he despaired unto death, while we place our trust in the broken Body and shed Blood of Jesus Christ, offered for the life of the world.
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