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DEAR FRIENDS, APRIL 2011
Doug Stears’s drawing on this month’s cover (of Tidings) is based on a detail from a Byzantine fresco and points forward to Holy Week.
Especially, it reminds us of the betrayal of Jesus by his friend, Judas. Doug asks the question, “Why a kiss?” A kiss is bestowed by mothers (and everyone else!) on new babies, and by sporting heroes on their newly-won trophies, and a kiss is often the last touch after a loved one’s death. A kiss is a sign of love and joy. But, in this moment, Judas turns the kiss into a sign of betrayal. Somehow, in that act, Judas makes the betrayal of his friend even worse.
So, why a kiss? I don’t know. And none of the sources I’ve looked at gives any help. We could all theorise about Judas’ motives. Some sources say he was disappointed that Jesus did not turn out to be the kind of Messiah Judas was looking for. I don’t know. But here’s my thought. In the musical Jesus Christ – Superstar, Mary Magdalene sings “I don’t know how to love him.” I think many people at the time felt like that about Jesus. Perhaps Judas was one. Perhaps he was in a mess. Maybe his kiss said to Jesus, “My friend, I’m sorry. I’ve messed up, but I’m trying my best to love you.”
And, if we’re honest, that’s where most of us are, a lot of the time. As the writer Danny Kruger puts it in an article Doug lent me: “We all betray Jesus even as we kiss him. The other disciples may not have taken his enemies’ money, but they comprehensively let him down.” And so do we. But the wonderful news of Easter is that the kiss of Jesus is not one of betrayal, nor even of sad dismissal, but of glorious forgiveness, acceptance and welcome.
My love to you all this Easter.
Peter Rand
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