Leonardo da Vinci’s great masterpiece, The Last Supper, took years to complete. One of Leonardo’s problems was to find a suitable model for the figure of Judas. He searched the streets in vain for someone whose face could express the pain and anger of the betrayer. One day, he spotted a face that seemed familiar; it was the man who, years before, had modelled the figure of Jesus – Pietro Bertalini, yet the years had changed him from a beautiful young man into an angry, bitter old man. His face told a story of a man who had failed to move on and still held on to the past.

Judas and Peter both betray Jesus, but one is transformed by the experience of failure the other is destroyed. Peter is able to move on, but Judas is caught up in a web of his own making. In Peter, we see the face of a man, humbled by his failure, but released by love to embrace a new life. In Judas, we see the face of a man broken by failure because he is unable to receive the forgiveness that could have saved him.

Journeys: Jesus speaks to his disciples about the journeys we must take. On these journeys, there are places where we stop. These may be resting places or decision points in life where we change direction. These are important moments in our lives where choices must be made that will determine our future.

Despair to hope: Both Peter and Judas made journeys during Easter week from elation to despair, from hope to confusion, but they made different choices that were to determine their future. Both wept tears at their failure, but Peter’s were the tears of repentance and Judas’s were the tears of bitterness. Why was it that Judas was not able to find new hope and life after his act of betrayal?

A new commandment: In our journeys towards God, there will be times of confusion, doubt, even despair, when we seem to be stuck or at a turning point. It is from these places that God wants us to move on. This is the point at which neither Peter nor Judas can move on until they have heard ‘The new commandment’ - “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

John 13: 34.

Love: Easter teaches us about God’s love for us, and we see it in Christ's death and resurrection. To understand and receive that love is to move on and be changed; to refuse that gift and remain unchanged is to fail to grow and ultimately to die. That is why Jesus says to Peter, “You cannot come where I am going.” Before he can move on, he must repent and receive the love that will release him. Tragically, Judas fails to understand that God can transform our failures into the means of His grace. Judas does not move on, but Peter is led forward into a new life.

The Gospel of Judas? In the recently discovered Gospel of Judas, Jesus commands Judas to betray him to make possible the means of grace by which mankind will be saved. This is no gospel of love, for God’s love makes possible the life of love that is the way of Christ.

The journey ahead is marked with a signpost: “love one another as I have loved you.”

Rev Simon Brignall