04-01-26

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
April 1, 2026
Today, our Jewish siblings are celebrating Passover, though a strange and occasional coincidence, it is also April Fools’ Day. And today is also Wednesday of Holy Week, which is often associated with the disciple, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus. Some say today, the day before Maundy Thursday, was the day the money exchanged hands between the religious leadership and Judas (Matthew 26:14-16). To be honest, I have always felt great sorrow for Judas, even wondering as some have suggested that as one waiting for a Jewish revolution, Judas believed getting Jesus arrested was the spark needed to ignite the fire. As strange as it may sound, at least from the perspective of Judas, he might have believed he was doing something good, and in the process, raising a little seed money for the revolution. My sorrow also carried with it a personal connection. I cannot remember my exact age, but in Sunday School, probably somewhere between 10-12 years old, I really absorbed the Judas story for the first time. He made a major mistake, and it was costly. Yet as a kid, I could name many mistakes I had made. However, the consequences of my poor choices were minuscule as compared to Judas. There might have been some guilt lingering inside of me, and the last thing I wanted to do was to judge Judas, as judging others often brings the judgment full circle. Today, as I reflect on Judas Iscariot, the one who will forever carry the title of Jesus’ betrayer, I believe Christianity has a complicated relationship with Judas. Some deal with it by simply claiming the devil made Judas do it, while others suggest that greed drove him to betray his teacher. But in the same way that we try to oversimplify complex situations, often reaching for the line, “The real reason is…,” I want to suggest that maybe the better thing to do with Judas is simply sit with his story, allowing all the possible complexities to serve as a mirror by which we see ourselves trying to live a simple faith in an incredibly complicated world. 

So often we look for the simple answer that we have convinced ourselves will make everything crystal clear, yet there are rarely such answers. Holy and Mysterious God of the Universe, allow us to glimpse the life of Judas amidst all the possible complications of one trying to live faithfully at a time when every act of faithfulness was (and still is) challenged. Amen.