St. Judas

Seeing how God never gets tired of forgiving us

03/26/2024

Jn 13:21-33, 36-38 Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, "Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus' side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus' chest and said to him, "Master, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it." So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, "Buy what we need for the feast," or to give something to the poor. So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night. When he had left, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, 'Where I go you cannot come,' so now I say it to you." Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later." Peter said to him, "Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times."

The gospel of John paints a dual portrait of Judas and Peter. They both deny and betray our Lord. One despairs, the other repents, and turns back to the Lord. I remember Archbishop Fulton Sheen saying that the great tragedy of the life of Judas is that he could have been St. Judas. In other words if he had had the humility to turn back to Jesus and say, “Forgive me, Lord,” his great sin of betraying Christ would have been forgiven instantly. What an amazing thought that even Judas could have been forgiven and saved.

This is the great beauty and grace of Holy Week, and one thing we can meditate upon this coming week, namely, there is always hope of salvation for all of us. That we can always turn back to the Lord, no matter how bad a mess we think we have made of our lives. Jesus forgiveness is always much greater than our sins.

I think this also gives us an insight into Judas’ mindset. He had this belief – and we too sometimes harbor it – that our sins are so big that God cannot forgive them. That is a great error, and leads to what the Church has taught as “final unrepentance.” That is, going your whole life thinking that I cannot be forgiven. My sin is so great that not even God can forgive me.

I believe this is what Jesus means when he refers to that one sin against the Holy Spirit that is unforgiveable. You know how everyone scratches their head wondering what that one sin could be that God could not forgive, especially against the Holy Spirit. Judas is the example of that one sin: final unrepentance, to die in the belief that my sins are so great God cannot forgive me. To despair. To think the Holy Spirit’s love has limits, and my sins have broken beyond those limits. That is the sin against the Holy Spirit: final unrepentance, despair, and Judas is the tragic example of it.

This is why one of my favorite Scripture passages is Rm 5:20, where St. Paul says, “Where sin abounds, there grace abounds all the more.” Sin may be big, sin may be terrible, but God’s grace is always much bigger. Pope Francis’ developed a famous saying when talking about mercy and forgiveness, “We get tired of asking God to forgive us. But God never gets tired of forgiving us.” We are the ones who run out of gas asking for mercy. He is not too tired to forgive us.

That is what happened to Judas: he got tired of asking God for mercy. But God was always ready, willing, and able to forgive him, even for betraying his Son. The great tragedy of Judas’ life is that he could have been St. Judas. Let not that be the tragedy of your life.

Praised be Jesus Christ!