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Lent Day 43: Annihilation is preferable

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TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s Gospel reading (Mt 26:14-25) again has us at the table with Jesus and His Apostles at the Last Supper. The focus again is on the betrayer, Judas, on the day we call in his “honor,” Spy Wednesday. Jesus says of the traitor:

“The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” (v. 24)

“Jesus is referring to the fact that he will give himself up freely to suffering and death. In so doing he would fulfill the will of God, as proclaimed centuries before (cf. Ps 41:10; Is 53:7). Although our Lord goes to his death voluntarily, this does not reduce the seriousness of Judas’ treachery.” (The Navarre Bible: St Matthew, 219)

“Instead of identifying the man, Jesus warns of the dreadful fate that the betrayer is choosing for himself. For what is about to transpire is a concurrence of divine will and human decision. The destiny of the Son of Man is determined by God and announced in the writings of the Old Testament. But the actions of the “man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed” are fully and freely his own. Judas is not a puppet with someone else pulling the strings. He has chosen to misuse his free will, and should he follow through with this treachery, he will come to wish “he had never been born.” (The Gospel of Matthew [Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture], 335)

“Jesus does not spell out what fate awaits [Judas] but indicates that it will be horrible…Jesus is now giving Judas a last-minute warning. Even though Jesus knows what will happen, Judas is nevertheless free to change his mind and take a different course.” (Bringing the Gospel of Matthew to Life, 578)

While the Church canonizes many persons as saints, it never declares anyone definitively in Hell. This spurs many conversations regarding the population of Hell. But the verse under consideration has long convinced me that there is one inhabitant of Gehenna (and I think, many, many more). The only persons who could possibly wish they’d never been born must be those in Hell. Heaven is what we were made for. Hell is the complete, utter, total, and permanent state of existing where we were never meant to be (remember: God desires all men to be saved [1 Tim 2:4]). I imagine souls in Hell cursing God, cursing their parents, and wishing they had never come into existence while knowing they can never go out of existence.

God forbid that any of us hear the words said to Judas being said to us on our judgment day because we betrayed our Savior

A wonderful talk supporting (and, frankly, influencing) my position on Judas’ ultimate fate can be found here.

Judas Iscariot, Saint Peter, John the Apostle, The Last Supper (c. 1520) by Giampietrino
after Leonardo da Vinci

God bless.

Lent Day 42: Judas at night

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TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s Gospel reading (Jn 13:21-33, 36-38) puts us at the table with Jesus and His Apostles at the Last Supper. Judas, the traitor, rears his ugly head at the distribution of the Eucharist.

So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night. (v. 30)

“Judas goes out into the darkness, turning away from the light of the world (8:12). Earlier in his Gospel the author observed that ‘the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil’ (3:19). Judas chose darkness.” (Bringing the Gospel of John to Life, 396)

“The indication that ‘it was night’ is not just a reference to the time of day but to darkness as an image of sin, an image of the powers of darkness whose hour was beginning at that very moment (cf. Lk 22:53). The contrast between light and darkness, the opposition of good and evil, is frequently met with in the Bible, especially in the Fourth Gospel: even in the prologue we are told that Christ is the true Light and the darkness has not overcome it (cf. Jn 1:5).” (The Navarre Bible: St John, 180)

A cowardly act from a cowardly man. He had problems with Jesus at least going back to the Bread of Life discourse (Jn 6:70-71), but did not have the guts to leave then or anytime else before this sacred moment. His receiving the Eucharist in a state of grave sin did not sanctify Him but made him more prone to the devil’s wiles. Maybe he believed the dark obscures him from God, but the light of the Lord overpowers not only physical darkness but spiritual darkness — but Judas did not allow it to move him. This soon leads to despair and suicide. With repentance in his heart who could have witnessed the Resurrection, yet he chose eternal death. A stark example for all times and places on how not to treat the Lord

Judas Leaves the Cenacle (Judas quitte le Cénacle) (1886-1894) by James Tissot

God bless.