April 5th, 2023 Spy Wednesday
If we NEVER acted treacherously, if we have NEVER ever thrown anyone under a bus if we have NEVER lied or schemed, if we NEVER gossiped or abandoned any of our friends and acquaintances, if we NEVER acted deceptively, or played the role of informant if we are ABOVE backstabbing, disloyalty, and snitching…then, we MIGHT HAVE ROOM TO TALK.
Might.
Wednesday of Holy Week is often referred to as “Holy Wednesday.”
However, it is also known as “Spy Wednesday,” based on “the traditional belief” that “on this day,” – actually, “on this night” Judas, one of Jesus’ 12 disciples, visited the Sanhedrin, under the cover of darkness.
The Sanhedrin is the council of Jewish elders.
Sanhedrin comes from the Greek term (literally, “sitting together”) meaning council.
The Sanhedrin is both a Jewish “judicial and an administrative body.”
The Sanhedrin was composed of “local elites”—including members of the high-priestly family, scribes (religious experts), and lay elders.
It probably operated under some sort of Roman oversight, at least with respect to its taxing, law enforcement, and other administrative functions.
It was the Sanhedrin that paid Judas Iscariot handsomely-30-pieces-of-silver and he told them he would “look for an opportunity” “to hand Jesus over” to them personally.
He guaranteed that he could bring Jesus to them or them to Jesus. It would be all a matter of timing. The right place at the right time.
It was Oscar Wilde (The Irish poet and playwright) who said: “Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.”
It is a truism.
If you will remember old Thomas “refused to believe that Jesus had resurrected from the dead.” He wanted to see for himself. He wanted to place his fingers in the actual wounds.
He did not and would not believe the word of ten of his apostolic brothers.
And that was at a time when two Jewish men who confirmed anything, were considered to be a reliable source of truth.
Peter, the sainted head of the disciples, denied even knowing Jesus on three separate occasions.
Every Saint has a past.
And as predicted by Jesus, Peter did so before the rooster crowed…
And likewise, every sinner has a future.
Peter, James, and John actually went on to head the early church in the city of Jerusalem.
Spy Wednesday it has been said, is a good day to look inwardly: to analyze our own motives and our own various intentions.
You will find that we fit in quite well – with both sinners and saints.
When we look back upon our lives…and at the things, we have thought, said, and done…it can be pretty eye-opening…
It is a chance to embrace “the mercy of God” and to acknowledge that we are sinners…all of us.
Always have been. Always will be.
Sainthood in this life escapes most of us.
Holy Wednesday-Spy Wednesday is also a time to remember that God loves us even when we betray him.
He forgives us unconditionally.
It is that old hate the sin, but love the sinner.
None of us have hands that are completely clean…and all of our closets have at least some skeletons in them.
Every life contains something that we would rather not be mentioned.
Thought. Word. Deed. We think things, we say things and we do things that grieve our Heavenly Father.
How he must shake his head…
We must “turn back to him” even when “we have turned away.”
Lent, if you will remember from its onset is that season of the church year that “calls us back to God.”
Lent is all about returning to the Lord your God…and there is no better time than now.
God beckons to us. He calls to us. He even calls us by name.
It is in turning back to the one “we have betrayed” that we see love and mercy, not condemnation.
If we never turn back, we will never see the great love he has for us.
He wants us and he loves us. We just have to look.
However, we have to do more than look. It takes believing to really see.
So, as our season of Lent begins its final journey toward Easter, it is a great time to prepare ourselves for the coming paschal feast.
A great time to do a little house cleaning if you will.
A good time for a little spring cleaning…before the celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord.
None of our hands are clean. None of them.
Amen.