What Jesus did on Wednesday of Holy Week is not recorded in the Bible. Scholars speculate that he spent the day in Bethany. People often say, "I've got a lot on my mind." Imagine how true that statement would have been for Jesus on a Holy Wednesday. The most obvious conclusion was that Jesus needed a day of prayer and relaxation to prepare himself for what was ahead. What did that look like? It's very hard to say. The main reason is because ideas like fun and even relaxation are relatively modern. The word "relaxation" was never used until 1548. The earliest recorded use of the word fun is from 1699, and the word leisure wasn't used until a thousand years after Jesus died. Relaxation, fun, and leisure are fairly new concepts. Survival has been an all-encompassing priority for the great majority of human beings for the most of human history. Still, we know that children of Jesus's time played hide and seek. They played some type of ball games, though it's not clear exactly how they worked.
And they played role-play games, such as mothers and fathers, imitating a rabbi, and fighting like soldiers. Perhaps Jesus and his disciples kicked the ball around that day with Lazarus and the kids from the village. The Bible does allude to children at play on a number of occasions. In Zechariah, we read, "The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing." And Isaiah mentions a game that involved tossing a ball around. The Egyptians were using balls at this time that were made of leather, or some type of animal skin, and stuffed with grain or husks of corn. It's reasonable that such a thing was spread around the region via trade, and that Jesus and other children used a similar type of ball. Or maybe Jesus told the other disciples to spend the day with their families. Historians tell us that the population of Jerusalem swelled from 80,000 to 2.5 million for Passover. So it's reasonable to expect many of their relatives would have been in Jerusalem for the Passover. And maybe today, they took time to spend with those relatives. One concept that was deeply embedded in the lexicon was rest. It had been since Genesis. Rest was a divine pastime. And let's face it, Jesus had to be exhausted, and His disciples would have been exhausted too. Do you need to take a day of rest? Maybe that's what God is calling you to this holy week. Rest can be a holy moment. No doubt, Jesus found time to be alone in a quiet place on this Holy Wednesday. But He also probably shared meals with his friends and perhaps kicked the ball around with the kids in the neighborhood. It's also very clear that Martha and Mary had a deep concern for Jesus and took care of him in their own ways. How did they tend to him on this day? And was his mother, Mary, there in Bethany this week? We know on Friday, she's at the foot of the cross. How did her motherly care manifest on this Wednesday? Perhaps in gloriously simple and wonderfully human ways, he was still her boy. Did she tell him his hair needed a good wash and take him outside and wash his hair for him?
One thing that is clear is that Bethany was a safe place for Jesus. What role had Bethany played in Jesus' life? The fact that he chose it to play such a central role in Holy Week suggests that he was comfortable there. What places have played a powerful role in your life? Where do you go when you need to pray, relax, prepare? And it wasn't just the place. Given that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were Jesus' friends, how did they know each other? He had lots of followers and disciples, but very few friends. How had they become friends? Perhaps they knew each other as children growing up in Nazareth. And perhaps the people of Bethany were also part of the equation. Jesus had recently raised Lazarus from the dead. It may have been that the people of Bethany were more familiar than most with Jesus' miracles and teachings. Perhaps Jesus had spent enough time around Bethany for the people to start to care about him as a person. Who are the people you choose to be around when you are dealing with a stressful situation? For Jewish people everywhere, this would have been a busy day. They would have been scurrying about making preparations for the Passover. Maybe Martha's old resentment about Mary not helping had resurfaced. Or perhaps both Martha and Mary had grown to a new understanding of their need for both the active and the contemplative aspects of life.
And while Jesus was immersed in the normalcy of Bethany on the other side of town, Judas was making a deal with Jesus' enemies. We read in the Scriptures, "Then one of the 12, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest and said, "What will you give me if I deliver him to you?" And they paid him 30 pieces of silver. And from that moment, he sought an opportunity to betray Jesus." In Catholic tradition, you will sometimes hear Holy Wednesday referred to as spy Wednesday. This, of course, refers to the activities that Judas embroils himself in, meeting with the priests of the temple and making a deal to hand Jesus over to them. Judas' clandestine activities on this day are clear. But if you are reading a great mystery book, which you are when you read the Bible, what questions would you ask? The first question that comes to my mind is, "How long has he been spying? Was he planted in Jesus' inner circle from the very beginning? Or was he turned into an undercover agent for Jesus' enemies a year ago? Or did Judas bump into an old friend this week in Jerusalem who filled his mind with fears and doubts?" Whatever the case may be, he made a deal, and it was a bad deal.
When did you last make a bad deal? Or is there one bad deal that stands out in your past? Keep in mind, the deal doesn't need to be financial. Continuing to hang out with someone who is toxic and close to changing is a bad deal. What do you think Judas did that night? He's gone out. He's betrayed Jesus. What do you think he did that night? Did he go out and get drunk? Did he stay far away from Bethany? Or did he hurry back to Bethany and pretend everything was fine? And if someone asked, "Hey, Judas, where have you been? What have you been doing?" What excuse did he give for where he had been and what he had been doing?
The major theme today is betrayal. Have you ever been betrayed? Have you processed that betrayal? Have you ever betrayed another person? Have you apologized and asked that person for forgiveness? The minor themes in the events of Jesus' life on this day include places that rejuvenate us, rest, friendship, the beauty of ordinary life, and the bad bargains we make in life. Trust, surrender, believe, and receive. So many Catholic parents and grandparents feel powerless as they watch their children and grandchildren leave the church. You aren't powerless.
Today, do something bold to ensure that your children and grandchildren don't lose their faith. Give them a membership in the International Society of the Eucharist. Every three months, we will send them a package teaching them about the genius of Catholicism and the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. It will include booklets and medals, prayer books, and prayer cards, and lots of other surprises, all designed to ingrain a love and devotion of the Eucharist. There's no better way to help them build a lifelong relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist. Remember, those who believe don't leave. Click the button below to learn more today.
Jesus, I believe
that you are truly present--
in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist.
Every day, I long
for more of you.
I love you above all things.
And I desire to receive you into my soul.
Since I cannot receive you sacramentally at this moment,
I invite you to come and dwell in my heart.
May this spiritual communion
increase my desire
for the Eucharist.
You are the healer of my soul.
Take the blindness from my eyes.
The deafness from my ears.
The darkness from my mind.
And the hardness from my heart.
Fill me with the grace, wisdom,
and courage
to do your will in all things.
My Lord and my God.
Draw me close to you
nearer than ever before.
Amen.
Consecrate America to the Eucharist.
Bye-bye.
Have a great day.
Have a great day.
Have a great day.
Come on.
Have a great day.
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This year’s Holy Week Retreat focuses on a powerful theory: Everything that happens in your life—the big things and the small things—can be found in these eight days of Jesus’s experience. What events or experiences from your life have you connected with these eight days so far? Have you found any events or experiences that you think don’t fit into these eight days?