Liturgy 074: Betrayal before Cross & Resurrection

Holy Week - the Lynching of Jesus is an Inside Job

Lectio Divina

Read the following passage slowly.
Let the betrayal disturb you.
Let the silence speak.

Then one of the twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Matthew 26:14–16

The wound is the place where the Light enters you.
Rumi

Would you sell your bro for leverage?
Kendrick Lamar

Prayer

O Christ, Betrayed

You felt the silver fall into Judas’ hands—
heard the footsteps retreat
while your friends sat unaware.

You did not run.
You did not rage.
You let the cracks form.

Let me not rush to resurrection
without first sitting in the wound.

Let me not deny the parts of me
that trade away what’s holy
for comfort, for praise,
for just enough silver to get by.

Sit with me, Lord,
in this middle place—
before the table is set,
before the garden shadows fall,
before the rooster crows.

Let your stillness
become my own.

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Blessing

For the One Who Waits in the Dark

May you feel the grief before it breaks.
May you name the betrayal without shame.
May you stay awake in the quiet,
and find Christ already there—
not avoiding the pain,
but waiting with you inside it.

Go slowly.
Go gently.

Something sacred
is being undone.

In the Name of the One
Who is Familiar with Suffering

Amen