Overview:

Wednesday of Holy Week

A Reflection for Wednesday of Holy Week

I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame. (Is 50:7)

Find today’s readings here.

We hear about two starkly opposite responses to God in today’s readings. Perhaps they can guide us in the directions we take in our own lives. 

Isaiah’s witness in the first reading describes the kind of behavior that God calls us to and wills for us. Isaiah reports that he has used his “well-trained tongue” for good. He has listened to God with open ears. He has stood for what is right, and endured a backlash of abuse and scorn. He has relied on God for courage and sustenance. “I have set my face like flint,/ knowing that I shall not be put to shame,” writes Isaiah with admirable conviction. “The Lord God is my help;/ who will prove me wrong?” 

And then Matthew’s Gospel flips our attention to Judas Iscariot. Judas sells out his Savior for 30 pieces of silver and then acts the innocent at their Passover celebration, aka the Last Supper. “One of you will betray me,” Jesus tells his disciples as they are gathered around the table. “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Judas asks Jesus, well aware of his guilt. History will prove him wrong. 

In smaller ways, we sometimes have to answer similar questions of character. In our times of trouble, will we embody our faith and trust that God will be our help, like Isaiah? Or will we pocket the pieces of silver in fear rather than stand for what we know is right, like Judas? 

These biblical choices remind me of the blues master Robert Johnson. His song “Crossroads” stokes the legend of his meeting with the devil at the crossroad, who gives “poor Bob” his musical talent at the expense of his soul. Like Judas, Robert Johnson’s crossroad blues lead him only to “sinkin’ down.” Our personal 30 pieces of silver, the metaphorical payment for our soul, can take many forms, depending on whatever it is that tempts us to ignore God in our lives. Only when we fully rely on God’s promise to be our help are we free to use our gifts on God’s behalf.

“It would be better for that man if he had never been born,” Jesus says of his betrayer, a terrible foretelling of the fate of Judas, who ends his own life in despair. Isaiah, on the other hand, finds his life and his purpose in going about God’s work. Whatever life-altering decisions await us and whoever we meet at our crossroad, may we go with God.

Valerie Schultz is a freelance writer, a columnist for The Bakersfield Californian and the author of Till the Moon Be No More: The Grit and Grace of Growing Older. She lives on the Oregon Coast.