PALM SUNDAY - A, March 20, 2005

Jesus is the central character in the Passion narrative that we just heard. But here are two other characters who have much to teach us about what the real meaning of the passion truly is. I am talking about Judas and Peter. I suspect that when we think of Judas, we think of words like "Betrayer," "Liar," "Thief." When we think of Peter, we think of kinder and gentler words. We may be right about one and wrong about the other, however.

Tim Rice, the man who wrote the lyrics to the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, made the observation, after doing a tremendous amount of biblical research in preparation for writing the musical, that Judas had the keenest intellect among all the Apostles. Even more, Rice believed that Judas, far from being the conniving betrayer of Jesus, loved Jesus more than any of the Apostles.

Over the years I have thought about Rice's observation, especially the idea that Judas really loved Jesus. That, of course, is definitely not the impression we get from reading the Gospels. It is certainly not the impression people have had since Jesus’ crucifixion. When we think of Judas, we think the worst. Mothers name their children Peter and James and John. I have never met a Judas. I doubt you have either. The name Judas seems to be synonymous with everything that is bad, with evil.

And yet I think Rice was on to something. Maybe we need to take a look at Judas from a different perspective, from the perspective of someone who really loved Jesus rather than from the perspective of someone who saw in Jesus a way to get rich quick. Yes, Judas held the moneybag; but there was never much in it. And thirty pieces of silver wouldn't make anyone rich even back then.

Judas was a man wise in the ways of the world as well as wise in the ways of organized religion. Judas understood, that if Jesus kept on doing what he was doing and saying what he was saying, he was going to get himself into trouble with the authorities. He was going to get himself killed. Jesus was making life too uncomfortable for the Jewish leaders. Judas saw that very clearly. I am not sure Peter and the rest of the Apostles did.

Judas really believed in his heart of hearts that if he could find some way to frighten Jesus, to get Jesus’ attention, then Jesus would back off a little, cut down on his rhetoric, let things cool for a while, and, in the process, get the authorities off his back. Judas believed that if Jesus were arrested and saw very clearly what could happen to him, Jesus would indeed back off. I think that is why Judas did what he did; not from a self-serving motive but rather from a motive based on his deep love for Jesus.

If that was Judas's plan and motive, it backfired, of course. Maybe Judas's love for Jesus was so great that he was deaf to what Jesus was really saying and blinded to what Jesus was really doing. That is understandable. They say that love is blind. And, as we all know from personal experience, it often is.

We all know people who are so in love that they can't see what you and I who are standing off to the side can see very clearly -- that they are heading for disaster. Who of us has not done something out of love for our family, our children, our friends that in hindsight was really stupid and foolish. But we were blinded by love. No matter how smart we are, sometimes love gets us into trouble. We do in our own lives what we would never allow someone else to do in theirs. Such, I think was Judas.

And then there was Peter. Peter also deeply loved Jesus; but when it came to making the choice between admitting he knew Jesus and looking out for his own skin, we know the choice Peter made. Peter came first. He never knew that man, the same man to whom he had vehemently asserted only a few hours earlier that he not only would never deny, but that he would die for him.

When push comes to shove, most of us are like Peter. We first look out for ourselves. No matter how much we love another person, we look out for good old number one. Peter publicly denied he ever knew Jesus. Three times he did it. Judas never did. And yet Peter is held up as a role model, one after whom we would proudly name our children, and Judas is condemned to oblivion. Where did Judas go wrong and Peter go right?

Both immediately grieved of their sins. Judas, as soon as he knew that his plans had backfired, ran back to the temple, threw down the money and tried to get the authorities to call off their dogs. When that did not work, in despair, he went out and hung himself. Peter, on the other hand, wept bitterly. He was not near the cross when Jesus died because he was too ashamed. But he was the first one into the empty tomb on Easter morning. And he ended his life by giving his life because of his love for Jesus.

The difference between Judas and Peter is not in the sins they committed nor even in the gravity of the sins. A sin is a sin -- denial is the same as betrayal. Nor is the difference in the fact that one repented and the other did not. Both did. No, the real difference is that one could accept forgiveness and the other could not. Perhaps that is where Judas's brains got him into too much trouble. Acceptance of forgiveness is not an intellectual feat; it is feat of the heart. Judas did not understand forgiveness; Peter did.

There is an old story about a certain Roman Catholic woman who claimed she was having visions of Jesus. The archbishop decided to check it out. He went to the woman himself and asked, "Is it true that you are having visions of Jesus?" "Yes," she replied. "Well," said the Bishop with a slight smirk in his voice, "the next time you have a vision, I want you to ask Jesus to tell you the sins that I confessed in my last confession. Please call me if anything happens."

Ten days later the woman notified the Bishop that she had had a vision. Within the hour he was at her doorstep. "Well, what did Jesus saw about my sins?" asked the Bishop. The woman took his hand, gazed deeply into his eyes and said, "Bishop, these are Jesus’ exact words: 'I can't remember.'

"I can't remember your sins," God says to us. All we have to do is ask for forgiveness and we are forgiven and our sins are forgotten. That's what the whole passion event is all about. Our sins are forgiven and forgotten, so we can move on. Judas's sin was forgiven; he could move on, not to death from hanging on a tree but to life, living a life as one who had been forgiven. Peter did. Judas could have as well. His problem was that he himself could not forget what he had done and, in the process, not accept forgiveness.

Judas's sin, if we want to call it that -- it was certainly his mistake or his serious misunderstanding about the nature of love and forgiveness -- was that he could not understand how someone could forgive and forget. I suspect that sometimes you and I make that same mistake too. In many ways, many times we are more like Judas than we would imagine or like to think we are -- and less like Peter.

The events and the people of this Holy Week are a reminder that love and forgiveness go hand in hand, that we cannot have one without the other, that we cannot offer love without offering forgiveness, that we cannot accept love without accepting forgiveness. Judas did not understand that, much to his personal punishment. Peter did, much to his personal reward.