From the Daily Lectionary for Friday in the Second Week of Advent
Luke 22:14-30
When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!” Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this.
A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
“You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Luke now is moving into the passion narrative, his account of Jesus’ arrest, the mock trial, and his crucifixion. It is all so very familiar to us: the complicity of the Jewish leadership, the capriciousness of Herod and Pilate, the angry mob demanding Jesus’ death. But here Luke shifts the focus to perhaps the darkest aspect of Jesus’ ordeal… and that is his betrayal. The tragedy is not so much that Jesus was executed an innocent man, but that he was betrayed by a trusted friend.
Perhaps you are familiar with Dante’s Divine Comedy. It is divided into three parts. The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso… hell, purgatory, and heaven.The protagonist of the story, in his quest for redemption, must first enter hell, the Inferno, and then travel through Purgatory before he can enter the sublimity of God’s grace. For Dante, the “way up is the way down.” To reach heaven one must first experience hell and the purifying rigors of Purgatory.
In the Inferno Dante meets all manner of characters: politicians, wealthy nobles, even Popes. His characters are consigned to a certain level of the Inferno according to the severity of their sin. Finally, in the last and deepest circle of hell, the poet encounters Satan himself, a grotesque and demonic monster; and from the devil’s mouth hang the three most egregious of sinners: Brutus, Cassius, and Judas Iscariot. And what is their sin? Betrayal.
So perhaps that is humankind’s greatest sin, the self-interested violation of trust, the succumbing to falsehood. Betrayal has many motivations: narcissistic pride; envy. It is actualized malevolence that tears at the seams of our common life. It has been our nemesis since time immemorial. We see it today at the heart of our society.
Our Black brothers and sisters have been betrayed by the privilege of white patriarchy. Our government representatives, drunk on wealth and power, have betrayed and are betraying the public trust. Millions of people in this the wealthiest country in the world are hungry because of political gamesmanship. And now, attorneys general in seventeen states with the complicity of the president, and some one hundred plus Republican representatives, including our own Bradley Byrne, are seeking to undermine a legitimate election. This is a betrayal of our very democracy.
Lord John Dalberg-Acton’s words are prophetic still: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It is power that will serve itself by the means of betrayal that Jesus stood against in his life and ministry. His vision of the human community was centered on love of neighbor, sacrifice, honesty, and mutual regard. Dishonesty and betrayal will doom a society. We are witnesses in our own time to such evil. Surely we have enough sense, enough courage to stand for the truth. As a nation we have been presented with a clear choice: acquiesce to betrayal or stand for the truth. We must never fail to “stand by each other in our trials.” Choose, good people, the latter.
A Prayer for Social Justice (BCP p. 260)
O God, who created us in your own image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend with evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and in our nation, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
