Year A Easter 4 2026 Celtic: "Abundance"

 Year A Easter 4, 26 April 2026

St George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA
Celtic Service: “Abundance”

Collect: O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 10:1-10

Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Tonight we have a passage that means so much to me. I was raised in another denomination where we were encouraged to have a “Life Verse.” A Bible verse which helped shape us and how we live our lives. My life verse is found in this passage. This passage was the Gospel reading I chose for my ordination service. It obviously means a lot.

But why? Why is it so important to me? We’ll get there, but first let’s see what Jesus is saying a Good Shepherd does.

• “The Sheep [know] his voice.” The voice of our loved ones is deeply ingrained. A baby knows its mother’s voice in utero. And that connection stays with us all our lives. The longer we spend with Jesus, the more we know when we hear his voice. The more we trust and obey knowing it is his voice and no one else’s.

• “He calls them by name.” Like the voice, by it we know him. But here, when he uses our name, we see he knows us! Wow! When I was a child we would go to Miller and Rhoad’s in Richmond to see the real Santa Claus. They even advertised him as being the REAL one. And their presentation was masterful, especially for back in the 1970s. Before you would meet Santa, you had to go and talk to the “Snow Queen.” She was a young woman who would talk with you and welcome you, and ask your name. And she would say it a few times. What I did not know as a child was that she had a mike and Santa had an earpiece. But, boy, was it convincing. Santa would look at you when it was your turn, and call me by name. “Jeffrey, come on over! So good to see you. What is it you want for Christmas?” As a child, when he called me by name, I knew that he was the real deal. Jesus knows our name. He calls us by name. And he is not faking it when he calls us by name. Wow!

• “He leads them out.” I was always taught to protect those under my charge, and this often means to go first to make sure the way is safe, or to stand between any dangers and those I must protect. Jesus leads the way out. He protects our path.

• “He goes ahead of them.” Very similar to leading us out, Jesus goes ahead of us. Jesus never asks to go somewhere he has not gone. He goes ahead, and asks us to follow.

These leadership practices are not imaginary. It is what a good shepherd does. They are actions of love and concern for the one in whose charge we are.

These are the What. But let’s get to the Why.

What Jesus does is because of the Why. He loves us and wants the best for us. He comes and knows us and talks to us and leads us not for us to just survive, though his protection and our safeguarding enable life. But this passage closes with that life verse I mentioned. It is the intent of our Maker for us. Life is a gift we are given, but the intent is for us to have life and have it ABUNDANTLY.

Abundance is more than enough. Abundance is the difference between moderation and feasting. Abundance is our cup running over. Do not hear me saying the prosperity theology drivel. The Abundance I believe that is hoped for us is more of an approach to life, an attitude even. I have enough and all will be okay. I have enough, and you have enough, and we both will be okay. I am free to speak. I am free to worship. I am free from want. I am free from fear. These are the four freedoms mentioned by FDR in his state of the union address in 1941, but I think they start to get at that idea of abundance that Jesus desires for us. That’s the Good Life. That’s Abundance, or a good start at it from my perspective. Think on that today. What is abundance to you? And then thank God that Jesus is working in your heart and soul and getting you there. Amen

Year A Easter 3 2026 All The Way Home

 Year A 3rd Sunday of Easter, 19 April 2026

St George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA

“All The Way Home”

Collect: O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

I have always loved this story. But it is a bit problematic. I cannot fathom walking with someone 7 miles and having no clue who they could be, especially if they are someone I love. But here we are. Luke tells us that their eyes were kept from recognizing him. Cleopas and the other disciple of Jesus were walking from Jerusalem back to Emmaus, some 60 stadia away, which is about 7 miles in our measurements.

They are wrestling with what took place over the previous days, and the preposterous claims from that very morning that Jesus’ tomb was empty and there were claims that he rose from death. And Jesus joins them for the walk, asking what they were talking about. They expressed their incredulity that this stranger had not heard of the events about Jesus of Nazareth, and in response Jesus says this…

“Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

So for about the three hours that it would take while they walked that distance, these two disciples were given the greatest lesson in prophetic utterances ever made. The very one about whom so much was written and hoped for schooled them in what had been foretold and accomplished in him. If I could be a fly on a wall, or on a backpack, or whatever, in Scripture, this would be one of my top choices. To hear Jesus walk his way through the salvation history from the books of Moses to the fulfillment of the Messiah, what a gift! The two disciples even said later how impressive and soul-touching it was:

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”

Alas, we will never get to hear it. Maybe in heaven Jesus holds a Master Class that we can sign up for and hear it from him directly.

I love that Jesus just did that. Maybe it was a debrief for him, too. He had lived his life, suffered a cruel death stemming from an illegal trial, and he had an eager crowd that was not hiding away in some room, and he could walk and talk and remember. Remember all he did. Remember why he did it. Maybe he was unpacking for himself and Cleopas and friend the purpose and import of his life. So despite how “foolish [they were]” and “slow of heart to believe” Jesus still walked them through all that was done.

Cleopas and friend were not the only ones Jesus cared for. I take great comfort that Jesus treats us in much the same way he did those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. 

Two years ago I had the distinct pleasure of walking the Camino de Santiago across Spain while on my sabbatical. While I was walking alone, you meet a lot of people along the way. Fellow pilgrims walking the same path have an instant bond. And they are quick relationships, often because my pace was slower with older knees. But often I would come into the next town and hit the coffee shop where I would see pilgrims taking a break, and take a rest myself. Often my reputation preceded me, and someone would say, “So you are Father Rock from America! I was hoping I would meet you!” They say when the student is ready the teacher appears. That happened more times than I can remember, and would be asked about a theological question stuck in someone’s spiritual cud, or just to meet this person they had heard about. They were looking for me if I arrived.

The Road to Emmaus was the opposite of that. No one expected this biblical expert to show up. No one expected him to be there at the right time and place. Yet he was. I have often found that in my life. If I start planning on a miracle I feel too much like I am putting God to the test. But so often, repeatedly, when I wondered what I was to do, or where I was to go, God stepped in and took me to where I needed to be or gave me the lesson I did not even know I was missing.

100% of the effort, 100% of the work was on Jesus who sought these disciples out. Like the Lost Coin, or the Lost Sheep, or the Lost (a.k.a. Prodigal) Son, the seeking and searching might seem like we are doing it, but the one supposedly being sought is already there ready to swoop in.

I think Jesus says things like this…

“Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” [Matthew 7:7-8]

He says things like that because he is already there waiting. He is not summoned or beckoned, he is already there anticipating our needs, maybe even before we are.

Jesus goes with us where we need to go. There are times and places where I have to go somewhere, but I have no desire to do so. Like stepping on the scale after the holidays, I do not want to go there. But if I do not know where I am, I will never get to where I need to be. Cleopas and friend may have been expecting a political messiah, someone who would come in and kick out the Romans. But Jesus needed to take them to a place where they did not want to go. The issue was sin, and its wages, death. The Romans were bad, no argument. But the real issue, the problem in the human condition was sin. The first story involving humans in the Bible is all about sin and how that snowballed throughout human existence. Jesus walked them, figuratively and literally, through the course of human history so they could see what he was really about and what he had actually done. 

Not only did Jesus appear when least expected, and bring them what they needed, I love that Jesus walked with them all the way home. Jerusalem to front door service. Pretty cool. This might seem trivial, they were already headed there. But that the Master took them to where they were going shows again his care for them and even more his love for them. He does not leave them hanging or in the lurch. Even when he started to go on, they pleaded with him to come in. Hospitality being a hallmark of Middle Eastern culture, even to this day, he even came in and supped with them and got them to where they were enabled to have their eyes opened, fully seeing him finally for who he was.

It was when he broke the bread that he was revealed. That most human of activities, sitting down and sharing a meal. We come to Christ’s table still, sharing the one bread and one cup. My prayer for all of us today and every time we come to this table is that Christ will open our eyes. I believe he is already here, welcoming us and meeting us where we are.

When I got to the Cathedral in Santiago at the end of the Camino, I laughed. I cried. I celebrated. It was a gift to be able to walk so far, and it was a gift to be done. Like the road to Emmaus, I was able to see how Jesus had been with me the whole way, whether I knew it or saw it at the time or not. Life is that way. Jesus walks with us. Jesus is with us at our birthday parties. Jesus is with us when we make the biggest mistakes of our lives. Jesus is with us when we receive our greatest honors or joys. Jesus is with us when our worlds fall apart. He is with us in the ICU. He is with us in the hour of our death. Jesus walks us all the way home.

At the end of Matthew [28:19-20] he even promises us this:

“And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus walks us home, too. In this Easter season, cling to that. Let it be your new normal. Don’t ever be distracted from that, no matter the circumstances. Now and always, Jesus is here. Amen

Year A 2nd Easter 2026 Thomas of Doubt and Faith

Year A Easter 2 2026, 12 April 2026

St George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA

Celtic Service: “Thomas of Doubt and Faith”

Collect: Almighty God, who through your Son Jesus Christ overcame death and  opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Christ’s resurrection, may be raised by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may 

come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

I served my diaconal placement and my first position as a priest for over three years at St. Thomas’ down in Richmond in the Ginter Park neighborhood. I was ordained there, and St. Thomas’s Church and I have had a special bond since then. Far from belittling him from the moniker Doubting Thomas, I see someone who had a resounding faith. And only got labeled when he said aloud the thing many of us would have thought in that instance. Faithful Thomas sums him up better, for me.

If nothing else, my hero Thomas shows one thing, ALWAYS BE HONEST TO GOD. That for me is the stance of prayer. Always bring what is on your heart, whatever that is, to God. God knows anyway, what sense does it make to play games and say what is expected or polite. If you cannot be honest with God, you cannot be honest with yourself. 

Express your doubts. Get them out there. God is not troubled by them, and it helps clear the air.

Express your fears. That way God can help you get to “Fear Not! For I am with you always!”

Express your hopes. God may show you something even bigger, and grander, and better.

Express your wants and desires. If they are not in line with what God wants for you this is a way for you to be turned and converted to God’s better way.

When Thomas was honest, Jesus met him where he was. Maybe we need to be more like Thomas. (Source: http://satucket.com/lectionary/Thomas.htm) 

According to Church Tradition, Thomas went further than any of the other disciples, heading all the way to India, to the Kerala district, to share the Gospel with “all the world.” There are churches there to this day that claim direct connection to Thomas and his teachings about Jesus. I saw a PBS documentary one time saying that Roman galleons seeking spices actually caught the trade winds from Arabia and would go to India and return on the opposite winds six months later. The supposedly outlandish idea is not so outlandish. According to tradition he was killed with a spear, and so is often depicted with one when made into an icon or other art works.

POEM (A line from a hymn about Thomas and his faith)

These things did Thomas hold for real: the warmth of blood, the chill of steel, 

the grain of wood, the heft of stone, the last frail twitch of blood and bone.

His brittle certainties denied that one could live when one had died, 

until his fingers read like Braille the markings of the spear and nail.

May we, O God, by grace believe and, in believing, still receive 

the Christ who held His raw palms out and beckoned Thomas from his doubt.

(Thomas Troeger, 1984, Psalter/Hymnal of the Christian Reformed Church)

May we be beckoned by Christ, in our doubts, in our fears, in our hopes. Be like Thomas, however you come, bring all of who you are to God. God loves you just the way you are. Amen 

Year A Good Friday 2026 For Our Sake

 Year A Good Friday, 3 April 2026

St George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA

“For Our Sake”

Collect: Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Because of the length, all the readings can be found here:

https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC_RCL/HolyWk/GoodFri_RCL.html

Raising children and working with them pretty regularly as a former teacher and now in churches, I have gotten the “Why?” question a lot.  Or it might be phrased, “How come…?”  

When I think of the events of Good Friday so long ago, my mind races to the Why.  My mind races to the How Come.  But I know that the Why and the How Come are not there, at least not on any level I can comprehend.  

If you ask me if I believe Jesus had to die, I would answer, “Yes.”

If you ask me “Why did Jesus have to die?” I cannot give you an answer.

If you ask me why I believe he had to die, my answer would be because he did.  I do not believe that something so stark and so irrevocable is just for show.  I do not believe that it is for a blood price either, that some bloodthirsty God wanted his pound of flesh but wanted to be seen as loving and forgiving, too.  

I cannot give a why, though as I said, even my mind races there. I believe that Jesus’ prayer was heard, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” If it could have been any other way, I think that it would have been. It was what had to be.

The words of the Nicene Creed are no easier when we think about it…

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven:

by the power of the Holy Spirit

he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,

and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried. 

For our sake…

My mentor always told me that a leader does what has to be done.  For our sake, he took that cup up. For our sake he took up his cross.

In Western culture, this story, the self-sacrificial love of someone has become the foundational story. Whether Les Miserables or Star Wars, over and over again, we see this tale repeated of laying down one’s life for love.

Last week I went to see Project Hail Mary, and there it was again. I had read the book a couple of times, and loved it. But the movie emphasized something I do not remember as clearly from the book. The main character is on a “hail Mary” mission to save humanity, and he fights it. He does not want to. He readily wants this cup to pass from him. But later in the movie, someone he loves is in danger. And he runs to save them without pause, without even considering not doing it. He readily goes to maybe even give up his life without a pause, for love. All for love. Maybe that is what happened in those 33 years where God put on human flesh to save us. Once here, once living the life amongst us with all the heartaches and heartbreaks, all the triumphs and glories, and all the mundane things in between, Jesus truly loved us. All the messy and messed up things that make us who we are, he knew well and loved us still. He sacrificed himself for love of you. For love of me.

The Gospels of Matthew and Mark record Jesus praying from the Temple’s ancient hymnbook, one of his final acts on this earth.

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 

and are so far from my cry

and from the words of my distress?

But Jesus was a biblical scholar, able to match wits with the best of the Pharisees and other leaders in the Temple.  I cannot think of a way for him to start this ancient hymn and not go through all of it in his mind.  I believe in his final moments he prayed this Psalm to its conclusion.  It may start with being forsaken by God, but it does not end there.  The last two verses...

Psalm 22, cont.

My soul shall live for him; my descendants shall serve him; 

         they shall be known as the Lord’s for ever.  

They shall come and make known to a people yet unborn 

         the saving deeds that he has done.

For our sake…

For our sake he was crucified.  When I think of Jesus dying for my sake, I do not want to go there.  I love Jesus.   I do not want him to suffer for my sake.  I do not want him to bleed for my sake.  I do not want him to die for my sake.

But then I am reminded of Peter, my nick-name-sake, when he did not want Jesus, his Master and Rabbi, to wash his feet.  Is it so very different?  Jesus said to him, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”  For Peter’s sake, he washed his feet.  For my sake and for our sake, he was crucified.

He did it.  I even think that he wanted to do it for each and every one of us and chose to do so.  Once and for all he abolished the barrier that had prevented us to come before God.

Some might say it was our sin.

Some might say it was our guilt.

Some might say it was the huge blinders after centuries of habitual sacrifice and ritual, becoming trite, corrupt, or partial.

Whatever the Why, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

For our sake…

Martin Luther was not always the famous Reformer.  Before he made his bold stand he was a simple monk.  He went almost crazy, and I am sure he took his confessor with him, when he felt the need to confess IMMEDIATELY- and at all times throughout the day - to his mentor Johann von Staupitz. After he had confessed and gone away he would think of yet another sin that he had forgotten to repent of and would turn back around, and go to confess again. Martin had a conscience that constantly pricked him and it seemed sometimes that he didn't know why God wouldn't leave him (and his conscience) alone.  He had joined a strict monastic order and and took on practices that punished and deprived his body, as many monks at that time did in the hope of expunging the fleshly desires from one's self.

And finally it dawned on him that this obsessive, repetitive worrying, bouncing from confession to sin to confession, repeat, repeat, repeat, could not be what Christ spoke of when he talked about having life and having it more abundantly.  And he embraced the idea of Grace.  Grace, a free underserved gift of God, for the sheer fact of love alone it was given to Martin Luther and it is given to us as well.

For our sake, Grace.  

For our sake, Love.  

For our sake, Good Friday.

We have nothing to hide, and nothing for which to be ashamed.  It is already known, forgiven and blotted out.  Grace.  Love.  Good Friday.  

Because of this, the preacher of the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament was led to say 

“... my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.”  Hebrews 10: 19-22

And if we have the privilege of coming into the very presence of God, by what was done on the Cross, is there anything of which we should be afraid?  Really.  

Death itself is dead.

Guilt itself is gone.

Grace and Love are the rules of the Rulemaker.  Who else do we need to listen to?

One of my favorite emerging Christian leaders is Shane Claiborne working with the presidents of inner-city Philadelphia.  He tells this story...

“One of the most powerful Good Friday services we’ve ever had was a few years ago. We carried the cross into the streets and planted it outside the gunshop in our neighborhood. We had our services there. We read the story of Jesus’s death… and heard about the women weeping at the foot of the cross. And then we listened to the women in our neighborhood weep as they shared about losing their kids to gun violence.

Calvary met Kensington.

“Afterwords, one woman said to me: “I get it! I get it!” I asked her what she meant. And then she said something more profound than anything I ever learned in seminary: “God understands my pain. God knows how I feel. God watched his Son die too.” Then I realized she was the mother of a nineteen-year-old who had just been murdered on our block.

“God understands our pain. That is good theology for Good Friday. And that kind of theology only happens when we connect the Bible to the world we live in. It happens when worship and activism meet. We don’t have to choose between faith and action. In fact we cannot have one without the other.

“Let’s get out of the sanctuaries and into the streets.”

Remember, Christ may have taught in the Temple, he may have been arrested in a Garden, he may have been put on trial in a mansion, he may have been condemned in a palace, but he proclaimed the love and grace of God on a cross at the crossroads.  His love was made manifest in a thoroughfare.  Today as we walked the stations of the cross, did we bear witness to this?  I pray we did.

As Psalm 22 ends, so shall I. I believe in my heart of hearts that Jesus prayed this as his final breaths left him. He prayed it for you, for me, for each and every one of us.

Psalm 22:30

They shall come and make known to a people yet unborn 

        the saving deeds that he has done.

Amen.

Year A Holy Week Wednesday 2026 And It Was Night

 Year A Holy Week WEDNESDAY, 1 April 2026

St George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA

“Ands It Was Night”

Collect: Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 13:21-32

At supper with his friends, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, "Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples-- the one whom Jesus loved-- was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do." Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the festival"; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once."

This is such a moving text. John adds some nuance we miss in the other Gospels.

As serious as it is, these disciples are as human (and flawed) as we are. Never forget that. Jesus claims that one of the apostles will betray him. I love this line. I do not remember noticing before about Simon Peter.

“Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking.” What do you think that looked like?

[Shrug???]

Or was it more like… 

[Shaking head pointing at self, shrugging while pointing at others???]

When I find curious little tidbits in Scripture it reminds how true this story is, and how human the participants. His gesture not getting an answer, Peter goes on…

So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"

Life lesson, when in doubt, be direct. And for once in a blue moon, Jesus answers a question. 

"It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish."

Now there is no way of knowing for sure, but during the Passover Seder, one dips when one tastes of the maror, the bitter herb which is now often raw horseradish. It is to remember the bitterness of slavery. Is this what Judas was tasting when Jesus sends him out to do what he is to do?

It gives that interaction an even deeper meaning, and heartbreaking symbolism.

After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do."

And he did.

And Jesus would be glorified. 

"Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once."

This is the same language that was used in the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus delayed going to him to heal him, “it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” [John 11:4]

We are going into the days of the glorification of Jesus. He did not match evil for evil. He stayed silent against lies and slurs. He submitted to a cruel and horrible death wrapped in shame and humiliation. And the worst of it, which we cannot possibly comprehend, the Eternal ceased to be. And in and through it all, we see the Glory of God. 

And so it begins. I trust you will stay with us in the yearly retelling of this tale.

One more note, as Judas went out, it says these words. “And it was night.”

In so many ways. We feel farthest from the light in the night. We feel the farthest from hope in the night. We stumble and fall, in the night. It is dark, my friends, for it is night. But always remember that the dawn will come.

St Paul used this same analogy for all of us who claim an identity in Christ in Ephesians 5:

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be associated with them, 8 for once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Walk as children of light, 9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness; rather, expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly, 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

    “Sleeper, awake! 

    Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Sometimes we need the night to truly see the light. In darkness the light shines so brightly. Think on recent events. The Buddhist monks who did the Peace Walk from Texas were huge. People went out of their way to see them, and encourage them and be encouraged by them. The light they shone forth was all the more clear in the present darkness we too often find ourselves in. There is such a deep longing for goodness and light. Maybe you feel it, too. Friends, as we head into these days of darkness, where Judas does act and the loving table of the Last Supper, slips into the Garden and descends to the oxymoronic “Good” Friday. And then all hope is lost for the disciples and followers who had hung so much, their very lives, on Jesus.

Friends, although the next few days are dark,  it enables us to all the more clearly see that light which is coming on Easter. Don’t lose hope. Hold onto the light. As the first chapter of John promises us, the light shines in the darkness and the light cannot be overcome. Ever.

Amen