John 13: 21-33, 36-38
After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival”; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, 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? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Face the Reality of Jesus’ Suffering
Holy Week invites us into the tension of Jesus’s inner turmoil as he anticipates his Passion. John’s Gospel, which characteristically emphasizes Jesus’s divine nature and elevates him above most worldly concerns, adopts a strikingly different tone in its portrayal of the Last Supper. We encounter an anxious Jesus, one who is “troubled in spirit” as he looks around the table and announces his imminent betrayal.
With the great celebration of Easter just around the corner, we might be tempted to fast-forward through these more emotionally difficult days of Holy Week. Peter’s request, “Lord, why can I not follow you now?” speaks aptly to our desire to jump ahead beyond the present tension.
Jesus asks something different of us in these days: to honestly face the reality of his suffering and the tension it brings.
How can you accompany Jesus in the tension of his Passion?
—Brennan Dour, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic and social studies teacher at Loyola High School of Detroit.
Prayer
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, embolden me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Never permit me to be parted from you.
From the evil Enemy defend me.
At the hour of my death call me
and bid me come to you,
that with your Saints I may praise you
for age upon age.
Amen.
—Anima Christi