The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!

 Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"  And he said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.  Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"  he answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."  Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?"  He said to him, "You have said it."

- Matthew 26:17-25

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had finished all of His teachings on the end times and the time of His Second Coming, that He said to His disciples, "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."  Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."  And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.  But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?  For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."  But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman?  For she has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.  For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?"  And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.  So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

 Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"  And he said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.   My study bible reminds us that the Passover commemorates God's deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt to the Land of Promise.  It prefigures the Passion of Christ, the new Passover (Pascha in the Greek), which is God's redemption of all humanity from sin and death, and entrance into the promised Kingdom.    Among the patristic commentators it is debated whether the first day of the Feast was Passover or the day before Passover.  However, it is certain that Jesus regarded this meal with the disciples to be the Passover meal.

When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.  Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"  he answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."  Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?"  He said to him, "You have said it."  That it is written of Him does not cancel the responsibility of Judas for his betrayal of Christ.  My study bible tells us that God foresees but does not cause the evil actions of human beings, who always have free will.  Jesus allows Judas to accuse himself, but even hearing that Christ knows of his deception, Judas does not repent.

Betrayal is something no one likes to think about.  I heard a talk by a priest who writes a regular column in a popular blog, in which he spoke about sin as essentially broken communion.  Sin breaks community.  In the context of the Mosaic Law, we can see an attempt to establish "good community," as summed up in the two greatest commandments Jesus named -- to love God with all one's heart and soul and strength, and to love neighbor as oneself.  This is a description of community, or more accurately, of communion as the love of God enables the sharing of God's nature of communion.  Betrayal is fundamentally in opposition to communion.  Betrayal is a breaking of trust.  We don't like to think about it because it stirs up every fear for our most basic needs as human beings, touching on issues that are fundamental to our well-being.  My study bible says of Judas' betrayal that it shows that religious position is worthless if not accompanied by faith and virtue.  But Judas' betrayal does more than betray Christ to the authorities who wish to put Him to death.  It breaks the communion of the disciples.  The betrayal makes it clear that even among nominal followers of Christ, hearts can betray communion and work destructively not only to betray trust but to lead people away from Christ.  Like so many of Jesus' teachings, the betrayal of Judas takes us once again to the state of the heart as the true place where faith either dwells, or does not.  Judas could carry out all Christ's commands to the satisfaction of appearance, but the heart could not follow.   There is a broken trust here, and trust is the root of faith.  The knowledge of the existence and possibility of betrayal is something revealed to us in the story of Christ and therefore in the heart of the story of our salvation.  It must inform us not only about ourselves but about the reality of the world in which we live, and in which we seek to live as members of the Kingdom, in communion with God and with one another.  It lays bare the power of our choices, and the responsibilities placed by God in human beings.  It teaches that we are given so much, and that without a right orientation to what is precious, our actions may prove exceptionally destructive.  But the very good news here that comes with this awareness is that even when the worst happens, God's work is not thwarted.  The betrayal itself, and the Crucifixion and death, will all come into play as instrument in our salvation with Resurrection.  The worst damage that human beings can do to break communion may in fact remain, in God's hands, an instrument of a greater redemption for those who love God (see Romans 8:28).  Do we have the faith to put all things into God's hands, even at the moment of terrible betrayal, our worst fears realized?  Christ will show us the way, and how to follow Him.   With faith, our communion remains; our God meets us even in our tragedies and the sadness of human failure and sin.  We just need to find God's way in the midst of the brokenness.