Gospel in Art: Wednesday of Holy Week - Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus

Betrayal of Christ, fresco by Giotto di Bondone, 1305. Scrovegni Chapel, Padua © Alamy Images

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 27 March 2024
Matthew 26: 14-25

One of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, 'What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?' They paid him thirty silver pieces, and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him.

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus to say, 'Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the passover?' 'Go to so-and-so in the city' he replied 'and say to him, "The Master says: My time is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples."' The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover.

When evening came he was at table with the twelve disciples. And while they were eating he said 'I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me.' They were greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, 'Not I, Lord, surely?' He answered, 'Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!' Judas, who was to betray him; asked in his turn, 'Not I, Rabbi, surely?' 'They are your own words' answered Jesus.

Reflection on the Fresco Painting

Our reading tells us of how Judas Iscariot plotted to betray Christ. A very painful truth. The greatest damage was done to Jesus by his own inner circle, by someone who had received so much from him. Jesus was betrayed by someone who dipped his hand into the dish with Jesus, someone who broke bread with Jesus. We shall never know what really motivated Judas' betrayal. Our Gospel suggests that money might have been a big factor, but I would imagine it was about much more than that: jealousy, ambition, power....

The gospel reading tells us that when Jesus announced that one of those sharing table with him would betray him, everyone present was 'greatly distressed'. To be betrayed by someone you trust is very distressing both for the one betrayed and for all those associated with that person. But today's story of Judas reminds us that we are all capable of betraying Jesus. We betray him each time we are unkind to each other. That is the basic, simple truth really. And that thought should indeed distress us.

One of the most celebrated artworks within the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua is The Betrayal of Christ, commonly known as The Kiss of Judas, painted by Florentine master Giotto di Bondone in 1305. This chapel, privately owned by the Scrovegni family, who amassed wealth through banking and lending, was constructed on a site in Padua, once a Roman arena, leading to its alternative name, the Arena Chapel. Enrico Scrovegni (son of Reginaldo, whom Dante in his Inferno locates in hell), the family patriarch, secured this land for the chapel and, in 1300, enlisted Giotto to enhance its walls with a sequence of frescoes. These works are now heralded as one of the most important works illustrating the transition from the Byzantine style that dominated medieval European art to the innovative aesthetic that would flourish in the Florentine Renaissance, around 1400-1490.

The dramatic scene depicting the betrayal of Christ shows the moment when Judas Iscariot identifies him to the watching authorities with a kiss, and at the same time, envelopes him in his cloak. Christ calmly stares at him without flinching. Even though it is a highly dramatic scene, it is rich with serenity, beauty and calmness.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-26-14-25-2024/
Competition: The Laudamus Award 2024 for Sacred Art - www.indcatholicnews.com/news/49310