Without Judas, would Jesus still have gone to the cross? Certainly, not only because the prophets of old foresaw Jesus’ offering of himself, but also because from the start of his public ministry, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Sanhedrin had been plotting to kill him.

During Holy Week, Judas is painted in an extremely negative light—Judas the thief, Judas the moneyhungry, Judas the traitor. But has any of us ever tried to look into the heart of Judas? What drove his actions? What was his emotional, psychological, and spiritual baggage?

Why did Judas act the way he did? These questions are dismissed because for most of us, if not all, Judas remains frozen in time as simply the man who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. No more. No less. But have we ever thought of Judas as a real person? Flawed, broken, weak, yes, but a human person nonetheless, who made terrible choices but also experienced devastating regret. Does he deserve our contempt, or does he need our compassion, guidance, and help?

Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” (…) One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?”

Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.” So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.

So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” (…) So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night. When he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”

Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.” Peter said to him, “Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.”

Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2026.” E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.