Loving through Betrayal
Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”John 13:21
Imagine yourself sitting around a table with good friends after being told that something bad is going to happen and when it does, not only will you friends not stick by you, but will also flee, run away, and deny of even knowing you. Would you stay and enjoy that meal? How would you respond? You might confront them. You might ask them if things were to go down, would they run or would that stay by your side. They assured you that they would have your back.
Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray Him, that they were all going to run and flee when they saw the guards in the garden, and that Peter would deny of ever knowing Him. Yet, despite all this, Jesus chose to sit and eat with them. He even washed their feet and gave them the most precious gift - Himself, the Eucharist. Despite knowing all this, He chose to love. He chose to love them in their weaknesses, in their fears, and in their cowardice. He loved them because His Father did.
When we look at our own lives and the relationships in them, are there some areas in which we have fostered hate and resentment instead of love and forgiveness? We are all fallen human beings who are attracted to sin and who are really undeserving of forgiveness. Yet, God never withheld mercy when we begged for it. We are told that the sinful woman loved much because she was forgiven much. It was in receiving that she was able to give and to love. If we find it hard to forgive or to love perhaps we have not received love or forgiveness well. May we allow ourselves to receive the Father’s love and mercy as well as from others so that we may too may love, even through betrayal.
