PALM SUNDAY (3/28/21)

Hi! I am Preethi Mathew and I am a part of the Roeders’ Farmington
Square Home Group. I am from South India, and I am in the third year
of my PhD program at Notre Dame. I have been coming to Riverside for
about two years now.

  • The passage we’ll look at today is Matthew 26 :1-16.

I have always found it hard to believe that Judas could betray Jesus after
walking with him for 3.5 years. It is interesting how Matthew mentions
this right after talking about what the woman did for Jesus (the woman
is thought to be Mary—Martha, and Lazarus’ sister). She came to the
house of Simon the leper, who would have been considered unclean
by the Jews and she spent a lot of money in getting oil for Jesus. Judas
was concerned about what he will get by giving Jesus over to the high
priests. Short term, it seemed like the woman suffered a loss while
Judas made a profit. But we know from the rest of the story that what
seemed like profit to Judas, ended up taking his life.

Ponder this question as you reflect on today’s readings:

  • Are we like the woman, ready to give everything to Jesus or are we like Judas, concerned about what profit Jesus will make for us?