The Night of Betrayal!

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Is 49: 1-6; Jn 13: 21-33, 36-38

Today’s Gospel highlights the reason behind Jesus’ troubled heart. 

At first glance, we might conclude that Jesus’ agony is more related to the passion and death that awaited him. However, the text shows that the cause of Jesus’ suffering comes from a betrayal, notably from his own friend. In other words, not the cross, but the betrayal of one of his own pains him the most. Hence, his sorrow is not physical but relational.

It is truly shocking to read that even the symbol of friendship can be turned into a symbol of betrayal. Judas has shown that ‘sharing the bread’ with Jesus does not guarantee the right disposition of heart. This is why, instead of allowing Jesus to enter into him upon receiving the bread, he allows Satan to enter into him.

Moreover, Judas ‘goes out’ upon taking the bread. The text describes that ‘it was night.’ Here, John employs the word ‘night’ more as a reference to the ‘spiritual darkness’ in Judas than as a note on the time of the day. Again, we learn from Judas that we risk the consequence of being exposed to darkness when we distance ourselves from Christ. Thus, spiritual darkness is not a state imposed upon us but points to the natural fallout of walking away from Christ, the Light.

And we find Jesus telling Judas, ‘What you are about to do, do quickly.’ These are not words of approval from Jesus. These words intend that he engage himself in self-reflection. Nevertheless, we find Judas having lost the capacity for self-reflection, especially at this point when he had been ‘away’ from Jesus too long. Now, Judas can neither pause nor rework. 

We pick up some crucial insights from Judas as we draw close to celebrating the Sacred Triduum. 

1. ‘Nature abhors a vacuum.’ We have to choose between Jesus and other desires. If Christ does not enter into us and fills our being, we must very likely believe or expect that something else will. A heart that is closed to Christ must necessarily open itself to something that contradicts or opposes him. Judas is the best example of it. 

2. Jesus is not betrayed by a stranger but by the one who was called to ‘be with him’ (Mk 3: 14-15), whom he called his ‘friends’ (Jn 15:15), and whom he wanted to build his Church (Eph 2:20). Jesus suffered more because he loved more. 

3. The longer we resist Jesus, the harder our hearts become so that we are rendered completely incapable of detecting his nearness to us or making our way back to him. Judas went out and never came back except to betray Jesus. We do not just ‘go away’ from Jesus, but we ‘go far.’

Let us pray that we may always stay faithful and loyal to the love of Christ.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar