On Wednesday of the Passion Week

The Bible is silent about the events that happened on this day. The gospel writers did not tell us what Jesus did on this day. Most scholars believe that it may have been a day of rest and prayer for Jesus.

On the other hand,  the Jewish religious leaders probably continued to plot Jesus' death, and they found one of Jesus' own disciple Judas, who agreed to betray him. He was going to show them where they can easily capture Jesus in exchange for 30 pieces of silver.

Because of this event, this day is also known as "Spy Wednesday".

Judas was capable, responsible, practical, driven, and intelligent. He could have been someone who had great potential to be used by God to achieve great things in the Kingdom of God. Instead, with this act of betraying Jesus, his name will forever be linked with betrayal, and his life ended in a tragic suicide.

Possibly, Judas expected Jesus to be the Messiah who would come to established an earthly kingdom and to liberate his people from the Roman rule. But being with Jesus for three years made him realise that Jesus was not the Messiah of his own ideas and certainly Jesus was not acting in accordance to his timetable. He wanted to see action and he was getting impatient.

What a tragedy to waste all of his potential with greed, arrogance and impatience.

Today, we should take stock of our own lives. Let us spend time to reflect on how well we are managing the gifts and talents that God has given us - time, money, abilities, energy, opportunities. Are we using it all for God and His Kingdom?

Let the story of Judas be a reminder to us to be good managers of our blessings. Let us not be greedy for earthly or material things. Let us strife to be humble, always remembering our Master and Provider God who has given us all that we have and made us to be who we are. Finally, let us be patient and work according to God's timetable.

So on the Wednesday just before Good Friday some 2000 years ago, Jesus seemed to have remained out of sight from the crowd and was silent, most likely in prayer for the coming days ahead. Perhaps today, we should spend time to be silent before God and seek Him in prayer ourselves.