A reading of the holy Gospel according to Matthew Matthew 26:14-25
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said,“What are you willing to give meif I hand him over to you?”They paid him thirty pieces of silver,and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,the disciples approached Jesus and said,“Where do you want us to preparefor you to eat the Passover?”He said,“Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,‘The teacher says, My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘“The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,and prepared the Passover.When it was evening,he reclined at table with the Twelve.And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”Deeply distressed at this,they began to say to him one after another,“Surely it is not I, Lord?”He said in reply,“He who has dipped his hand into the dish with meis the one who will betray me.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.”Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”He answered, “You have said so.”
REFLECTION: “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with meis the one who will betray me.
Judas planned to betray Jesus. In one hand he received the thirty pieces of silver and in the other he dipped his hand into the dish with Jesus. He must have been sitting very close to Jesus to be sharing the same dish. And now Judas is to hand over His Lord. The stage is set for the final drama of Jesus’ mission. There would follow a slow, painful and excruciating death.
During His cruel passion, Jesus was forced to carry the heavy cross. He probably had a carpenter's rough hands. One can only imagine that the blunt nails went through ligaments and nerves, as no bones were broken. One can see the contortions of the muscles in His hands. Those were the same hands that helped His father in the carpenter’s shop in Nazareth, the same hands that helped His Mother Mary in daily chores. Those were the same hands that changed the water into wine, that healed many sick people, that raised Lazarus and others, wrote the sins in the dirt and made a whip to use in the Temple. Those were the hands that fed the five thousand men, that changed the bread and wine into His own Body and Blood.
If anyone has had carpal tunnel syndrome or median nerve neuropathy, one knows a smidgen of the pain (persevering, burning, numbing and crescendoing) Jesus went through. The median nerve courses through the center of the hand, innervating the hand, thumb, index finger, and ring finger. Since it originates in the cervical (neck) area, any insult to the median nerve can cause pain up and down the arm. The nail going through the ligaments of the hands would cause contractures. His arms were at 65 degree angle. This nerve passes down the inside of the arm and crosses the front of the elbow. At the wrist it goes through a "tunnel"-called the carpal tunnel-made up of the wrist bones and a tough band of connective tissue (ligament). The median nerve supplies muscles that help bend the wrist and fingers. And for three hours our Savior hung on the cross with pain that would not let up.
Everyday, but especially today, visit Jesus at an Adoration Chapel and turn toward Him, asking for forgiveness for our many betrayals and the pains our sinful hands have caused Him.
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