The Suffering Servant of God to be Betrayed and Denied yet to be Glorified – Tuesday of Holy Week

 Because we are reading from the four songs of the suffering servant from the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah 42:1–9; 49:1–13; 50:4–11; and 52:13—53:12, from Palm Sunday to Good Friday during Holy Week, except Holy Thursday, for Frist Readings, we reflect Jesus in his last days readying for the Passion with anointing, his betrayer working as a spy for those who plot to kill him, Last Supper to institute the Eucharist, to give the new commandment of love through his servant leadership of foot washing, and to give a farewell discourse and prayer, praying in agony, and his arrest, followed by his Via Dorolosa, reflected on the 14 stations of the Cross. The motif in these servant songs is Jesus, as the suffering servant, sent by the Father to complete his mission as described in these four songs.

For today’s First Reading, we read from Isaiah 49:1-6. It is noteworthy that the portion of the servant songs we read today is addressed to Israelites in diaspora, as it begins with these words of the servant, Christ:

Hear me, coastlands, listen, distant peoples (Isaiah 49:1a).

Coastlands suggest distant lands, referring to the ends of the earth, where Israelites had been taken in exile but brought back to Jerusalem from (Isaiah 41:9). It can also mean all the ends of the earth that turn to God as His power and glory are made known to (Psalm 22:28; 98:3), alluding to the glory of Christ’s resurrection made known to all over the world through his catholic (universal Church).

And Christ says:

Before birth the Lord called me, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name (Isaiah 49:1b).

This refers to Jesus was called even before the Creation, from eternal past (John 1:1; Colossians 1:17), to be incarnated to come to us (John 1:14), out of God’s love (John 3:16). At Annunciation, through Gabriel, God told Mary of her virgin conception of His Son and him to be names “Jesus”(Luke 1:31), which means “Lord saves”, referring to “Hosanna”.

 As the above words in Isaiah 49:1b are reiterated as, “who (Lord) formed me as his servant from the womb (Isaiah 49:5a), Christ, the Son, has been called from the pre-incarnation eternal past, to serve the Father’s will, as reflected in the First Readings from the suffering servant songs for Holy Week, including today’s.

Christ in Jesus has his mouth made like a sharp-edged sward, while he is like a sharpened arrow, like a concealed weapon (Isaiah 49:2). This suggests that his Word in his kerygma can cut through, as his divine authority works like a sharpened arrow to be on target – reflecting the authority and power of Jesus’ public ministry. But, as he had his youth years rather in obscurity – until he began to be known in public upon his Baptism, all the Messianic power and the divine authority in Jesus were like a concealed weapon. In fact, in regard to his Christological-Messianic identity, to those who persecuted and those who were with them, demanding Jesus to be crucified (Mark 15:13, 15), his authority and power remained concealed for they were obstinately blind to this truth (John 9:40-41).

Now Christ tells of his servant identity, as told by the Father: You are my servant (Isaiah 49:3a). Through his service in public ministry, his glory is shown (Isaiah 49:3b).

Then, the servant-Messiah said:

Though I thought I had toiled in vain, for nothing and for naught spent my strength, yet my right is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God (Isaiah 49:4).

This suggests that the service performed by Christ is not appreciated but rather has become object of persecution, leading to his passion and death on the Cross. In this regard, this also refers to what Paul addresses as the paradox of the Cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-15), as Jesus’ death on the Cross is nothing but his defeat and failure to those are blind to his Christological truth, while it is the glorious triumph of God’s will fulfilled by his service.

As the servant of Yahweh, who incarnated Christ the Son in Mary’s womb at Annunciation, as reflected in Isaiah 49:5a, “For now the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb”, Jesus has come to Jerusalem to redeem the lost sheep of the Father – us, the sinners, who have gotten lost in sins – so that his glory in his death on the Cross and in his Resurrection, followed by his Ascension, will be known to all the ends of the earth, as reflected in Isaiah 49:6, in juxtaposition to the post-exilic redemption of the Israelites from the Babylonian captivity. Then, from the post-resurrection period, Paschaltide, on, especially, upon Pentecost, the glory of God in Christ will be known to all the ends of the earth and all nations on earth will turn to God  as reflected in Psalm 22:28 and Psalm 98:3

Today’s First Reading portion of the servant song (Isaiah 49:1-6) assures that Christ’s Passion and death are not in vain but to redeem us from the bonds of sins and to turn all nations to God through his three-fold glory in death on the Cross, in Resurrection, and in Ascension.

Now, today’s Gospel Reading (John 13:21-33, 36-38) takes us ahead to Last Supper, during which Jesus spoke of his betrayer, Judas Iscariot.

Today’s Gospel narrative begins with an indication that Jesus was deeply troubled and  foretold of the betrayal to be committed by one of the twelve dinning with him (John 13:21a). Jesus was greatly distressed about what? About his death becoming imminent, as his arrest would be a few hours ahead? No. His distress was rather because he still loved Judas, though he knew of his betrayal. Because Jesus still loved and cared for him, he was so distressed to know that devil had already induced him to betray (John 13:2). That is why he said when he washed his disciples feet, “Not all of you are clean” (John 13:11), referring to Judas. Jesus would not be so troubled had his betrayer were an outside, not Judas, who was one of the twelve.

So, in great distress, Jesus “dropped a bomb”, saying:

Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me (John 13:21b).

And, this one to betray is not the one who is not clean (John 13:11).

In reaction, the disciples were quite shaken. It was the “bomb”’s effect on them.

So, they were quite anxious to whom Jesus was referring as a betrayer (John 13:22), and Peter signaled to John, who was leaning toward Jesus, to ask him who is to betray him (John 13:23-24). And, John asked Jesus who it would be (John 13:25).

And Jesus answered:

It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it (John 13:26a).

In other words, Jesus told that the one who is to betray is one of you that I honor, because a person given a dipped piece of bread by the host means an honored or special guest at dinner. So, Jesus gave it to Judas and told him to do what he had to do rather quickly (John 13:26b-27). And upon this ordinary dinner gesture of giving a dipped piece of bread to an honored guest, Satan entered Judas (v27).

Judas was already under the influence of Satan at the beginning of Last Supper (John 13:2). But, upon receiving the dipped bread from Jesus, Satan was in full control of Judas and put him in action to betray Jesus.

Being fully aware of this, because everything is under the Father’s control (John 13:4), Jesus said and did this so that his answer to John’s inquiry on who the betrayer is would not make unnecessary emotional commotions. And, the fact Jesus told Judas, “What you are going to do, do quickly”(John 13:27) makes it clear that he was fully aware of what lied ahead, led by Judas’ betrayal. And, he knew it was to fulfill his service to the will of the Father (Matthew 26:39//Mark 14:36//Luke 22:42; John 6:38), as the suffering servant to die.

Sure enough, the way Jesus answered the who-the-betrayer-is question did not disturb the emotions of the disciples any further, as they thought Judas left upon taking the dipped piece of bread from Jesus to go on errand, while they continued to dine without even thinking Judas would be the one to betray at that moment (John 13:28-29).

And the darkness of night is already creeping in (John 13:30), as this moments leads to Tenebrae service’s beginning for Paschal Triduum.

Upon Judas’ departure from dinner, 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” (John 13:31-33).

The hour has come as the darkness of Satan has been on, as reflected in Tenebrae Service. Yet, in this darkness, the glorification of Jesus, the suffering servant of the Father, has begun. And, it also means that his death – his departure to pass from his earthly life has now become imminent. In terms of where Jesus is about to go, it is not accessible to anyone (v.33), as he repeatedly told his accusers before (John 7:33; 8:21) and tells so to Peter, as he asked Jesus where he is going:

Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later (John 13:36).

But, it seemed that Peter sensed that Jesus referred to his death in saying “where I am going”, because Peter said Jesus:

Master, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you (John 13:37).

To this, Jesus foretold Peter’s denials of him (John 13:38).

What we get from today’s Gospel Reading (John 13:21-33, 36-38) is that Jesus, who is the servant of God, reflected in the First Reading (Isaiah 49:1-6) is about to be betrayed by Judas and denied by Peter, as the darkness of evil is creeping in, as the Passion of God’s suffering servant is imminent – following Last Supper.

But, the Gospel Reading also tells that the hour of the suffering servant’s Passion to  his death is also the glorification of the servant (John 13:31-32 – Isaiah 49:3; 52:13; 53:11-12). And, this glorification shall shine as light to all the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). That is why the servant’s suffering and death is not made in vain (Isaiah 49:4). It is for our redemption from the darkness of sins as we become the new Israel through Christ the servant (Isaiah 49:5).