Readings: Isaiah 50:4-9; Psalm 69; Matthew 26:14-26
In his resurrection at Easter, Jesus shows us that he is truly God, he is divine. But this week, Holy Week, we recognize that he is also truly human. It’s easy to focus on Jesus as God as we approach the Easter season. But let’s not “jump the gun”. Leading up to the resurrection, it’s important to remember that Jesus was also very human. When betrayed by his friend and disciple, by someone he broke bread with, someone he should have been able to trust, he is hurt.
Jesus and his friends are in an intimate setting, sharing a meal together: the betrayal indicates that trust has been broken. Why? Because there has to be love and trust for there to be betrayal. A stranger can’t betray you. A stranger can harm you. Unless you have trusted someone, there’s not a sense of betrayal at the harm.
The suffering servant in Isaiah (first reading) talks about his distress in his situation. He has shared with others the words of God, and because of it he is attacked physically and verbally. He suffers for the good of others. He is abused, but he knows that what he is doing is important and necessary. but it’s not easy. As Christians we can be a little like that. It seems like we do not get the rewards for doing the right thing but are instead sometimes punished for our faithfulness. And with our human bodies and emotions we feel pain. Frustration, sorrow. Jesus also had human emotions and also had a human body. Being betrayed he felt sorrow. He felt physical pain when he was crucified. He understands our sorrow and frustration because he also felt it.
Being human can be painful. But Jesus understands our pain because he was human too, because he had also experienced it. Even though he was God, he still understood human suffering because he experienced it. And we understand how sad he was when his friends betrayed and abandoned him, and how he suffered because we share in those same human experience.