Is 49:1-6 / Jn 13:21-33, 36-38
As the Last Supper moved inexorably to its end, Jesus told his apostles, “One of you is going to betray me.” How much more accurate it would have been to say, “All of you are going to betray me”! Judas, of course, sold out his master for 30 pieces of silver and identified him for the soldiers by kissing him! But the rest of them were just as bad, fleeing and leaving Jesus all alone in those most terrible hours of his whole life. And Peter, amidst many curses three times denying that he even knew Jesus!
What a sorry lot, betraying their best friend and teacher! Many of us would say that they weren’t worth dying for, but that’s not what Jesus thought. From the beginning he’d known them from the inside out, and he had no illusions in their regard. But he also saw in them more than they yet saw in themselves. He saw their capacity for growing into greatness. And as the ultimate faithful friend, he was determined to stick with them and see that greatness come to be.
The Lord never gives up on any one of us. Never! All he asks in return is that we not give up, on ourselves, or on one another. He has the power to make you grow large and grow whole, and he wants to give that power to you. Trust him, open your heart, and take it!
