Tagged: daily bread

“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” —Matthew 26:25 Notice that, in Matthew’s account of the Passion, Judas addressed Jesus merely as “Rabbi,” not as Lord (Mt 26:25; see also Mt 26:49). The other disciples all addressed Jesus as “Lord” (Mt 26:22). Calling Jesus “Rabbi,” that is, “Teacher” (see Jn 1:38), gives evidence that Judas had already stopped recognizing Jesus as his Lord and Master. Since no man can have two masters (Mt 6:24), Judas now had a different master than Jesus; he transferred his loyalty to the Jewish chief priests (see Mt 26:14ff). How tragically sad! Judas betrayed Jesus so...

“Jesus grew deeply troubled.” –John 13:21 Especially in Holy Week, we may become deeply troubled. We are troubled by other people, by Judases who betray the Lord and us, and by Peters who deny the Lord and us after promising never to do such a thing (see Jn 13:21ff, 38). We may also be troubled by the seeming uselessness of our lives. We may feel as if we have “toiled in vain…for nothing, uselessly” (Is 49:4). Moreover, we may be troubled even by the Holy Spirit, Who points out that we are not only victims of people like Judas and...

“The chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too, because many Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in Him on account of Lazarus.” –John 12:10-11 Jesus, the Life (Jn 14:6), will not even quench a smoldering wick (Is 42:3). In fact, when the smoldering wick, that is, Lazarus, was extinguished and was buried, Jesus raised him back to life (Jn 11:43ff). The chief priests, however, were not content with putting Jesus the Life to death; they planned to kill Lazarus too (Jn 12:10ff). When you choose death instead of life, one death is never enough. Once you make a...

“Those preceding Him as well as those who followed cried out: ‘Hosanna!’ ” –Mark 11:9 When Jesus entered Jerusalem shortly before His death, the great crowd “got palm branches and came out to meet Him. They kept shouting: ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” (Jn 12:13) Every time we go to Mass, the Church calls us to continue these praises when we pray: “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord....

“If we let Him go on like this, the whole world will believe in Him. Then the Romans will come in and sweep away our sanctuary and our nation.” –John 11:48 If we let Jesus go on, if we let it be done to us according to His Word (Lk 1:38), if we “let go and let God,” we will lose our lives (Lk 9:24) and lifestyles. If we let Him be the Lord of our lives, He will turn the world upside down, or more precisely, right side up. Jesus will change our plans, dethrone us, topple our kingdoms,...