Isaiah 49:1-6/ Jn 13:21-33, 36-38
Judas Iscariot. Have you ever wondered what "Iscariot" means?
One suggestion is "man of Kerayoth" which is believed to have been a town or cluster of towns in Judea " not Galilee where most of Jesus' earliest followers were from. Some have suggested that is why Judas seemed marginalized among the Apostles. I am not sure I buy into that explanation.
I think there is a better explanation, based on a Latin word, and the possible twisting of that word in the various translations as they occurred in the early Church. The Latin word is sicarii, which means dagger. As an extention of this word for dagger, the Romans came up with sicarius, or dagger-man, one of a group of assassins among Jewish rebels intent on driving the Romans out of Judea. These may also have been known as the Zealots.
Gee, there's another word we know. "Simon, the Zealot Party member" (Mt 10:4). So, did Jesus have two assassins among His chosen Twelve? If that is so, what can we learn from this?
First of all, Simon remained faithful. As he heard the Good News from Jesus, he realized his need for a conversion " a turning away from his past life. He embraced the work of Jesus and came back to the Lord after the Resurrection, along with the Eleven.
Judas, on the other hand, became a betrayer. Almost any number of guesses have been made to find the motives of Judas. Some have been sincerely trying to understand. Some have been unwilling to understand. Some have been too willing to excuse.
May I suggest we stay away from these inclinations? Isn't it enough to say that Judas betrayed Jesus; that he " for whatever reason " took his eyes away from the work Jesus was doing?
Simon the Zealot " in fear " left Jesus as most of the Apostles did at His arrest. Simon, though acting fearful during the Passion, did not abandon what he had learned: he stayed with the Apostles, though in hiding.
Judas "the Zealot" " for reasons we can only speculate on " left Jesus before His arrest.
What about us?
Do we find the gospel hard to take " as it is? Do we try to manipulate what we think the gospel is? Do we choose to leave it when it seems to be getting too hard? Do we act like Judas "the Zealot"?
Or…
Do we find the gospel at times so hard that we shrink away for a while? Do we hide our commitment to the gospel " for a while? Do we choose to stand up when the Lord calls us by name to enter the tough work of sharing His Good News? Do we act like Simon the Zealot?
If we take the meaning of Iscariot to be tied to the Zealot party and dagger-men, it seems clear that there is a risk we must be willing to take to follow Jesus. Will we let Him lead us out of a way of death into His eternal life, or will we abandon what we have begun because of something unknown, misunderstood, misapplied?
Today, we need to set our faces toward the cross " regardless of what that might mean for the future " because we know that embracing the cross is our only true future.
