Italian
In that masterpiece which, in my opinion, is the film The Passion of the Christ, by Mel Gibson, in the scene of Gethsemane, there is a sequence that strikes deeply. At the moment of betrayal, Jesus receives a kiss from Judas (Mt 26:49: “he kissed him”), a kiss that hits him hard as he says to Judas: “With a kiss, you betray the Son of Man” (Lc 22:48). Right at this moment, in the very act of the kiss, Jesus calls Judas “friend” (Mt 26:50), whispering friend to the one who is betraying him. Here, at this instant, in that film the camera shifts and meets the gaze of John, as if to say: here is the true friend, the true friend is him, the disciple whom Jesus loved!
Next to Judas is John. Not perfect, but present. Not strong, but faithful. He is the friend who stays, who follows, who never stops looking at Jesus with love even under the Cross! Here is the contrast that is both dramatic and magnificent: the contrast plays out in love!
And us? Which side are we on? Of course, it’s too easy to say which side we’re on: but it’s clear that we are on Giovanni’s side, that goes without saying. However, perhaps we can push a little further and think that this confrontation, despite the contrast it presents, also hides Jesus’ understanding. His attitude is evidently so sweet, so attentive, so gentle towards Giuda: during the Last Supper, he breaks the bread of brotherhood for him and gives it to him, he doesn’t shame him in front of anyone, he lets him be, and then in Gethsemane, he accepts his kiss, feels it deeply, and calls him friend! Understanding concretely translates into throwing him a lifeline, a buoy to cling to, almost to remind him: “You can still be like Giovanni, who is witnessing this unique experience of love and friendship with me.”
It is, once again, a strong interpretation, certainly, but the Gospel is at the same time sweet and strong, it has strong hues and can only be read and interpreted clearly and strongly. So, if this interpretation holds, it means that we too need not fear, and we can understand that our life, even if sometimes it slips into incapacity, weakness, or even betrayal, always has an anchor to cling to, always has hope, and can always look to this sublime and fascinating ideal of John to try to imitate it, to try to reach it. To reach it, certainly according to our strengths and within the limits of our possibilities, but to reach it to also be the true friend, the disciple whom Jesus loved and who loved Jesus.
It is too easy to say: “I stand with Giovanni.” But as I say it, I also see within me that part of Giuda that exists. And perhaps it doesn’t exist? For heaven’s sake, I hope someone can say: “No, it doesn’t exist.” I personally must acknowledge the part of Giuda that is in me! However, I am fascinated by Giovanni, and precisely because I contemplate this great and unique contrast, I feel with certainty that the Lord is looking at me, that the Lord meets my gaze, and whispers to me the sweet word: “Friend.” Surely Jesus did not call Giuda “friend” just for the sake of it, as if to mock him. It would be blasphemy to even think it, to think that Jesus calls Giuda “friend” to make fun of him. Jesus says it because it is true, because he feels it, because he loves him.
And by looking at John, we can understand what it means for Jesus to say friend, what Jesus experiences and feels when he says to Judas: “Friend.” Jesus desires to share with Judas the same experience he shares with John! I find it beautiful. Let’s really think about it: by looking at John, we can understand what it means for Jesus to say to Judas: “Friend!”.
And we Christians, instead, how many “Judas” have we already dismissed, how many “Judas” have we already condemned! We Christians, we Christian communities, we ecclesial communities, we “Church”. To how many, whom we should call sisters and brothers, whom we should gently and sweetly define as “friends”, do we actually make believe that they are “Judas”! What would Jesus do? Let us ask ourselves what Jesus would do. Would He not also say to these people whom we make feel like “Judas”, would He not also say to them “friend”? And “friend” as John is!
This contrast, on one side of love that is stronger than this, because it is the love of the friendship of preference for the one who during the Last Supper “was reclining on Jesus’ bosom” (John 13:23), and on the other side of this darkness and this night, ultimately leads to a magnificent and lofty result: the commandment, the new commandment, the unique commandment that Jesus leaves to his own at the supreme moment of the Last Supper and which John recounts in his Gospel: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34-35).
How did He love us? We contemplate it right during the Last Supper: “One of His disciples was reclining at Jesus’ side, the one Jesus loved” (John 13:23). This is how He loves us. This image of John reclining at Jesus’ side, although not rendered as well even artistically, is for me even deeper and more “intriguing” than the washing of the feet, because it says more about the human experience, because it reveals that at the end of everything lies love. It is love, nothing but love. And we must not be afraid of love, because love, when it is true, is always positive. Love is love. And that’s it! How can we quantify it, limit it, restrain it, cage it? True love is love. True love is to love. Like Him, of course, like Him. And He loves us like this, He loves us by welcoming John into His embrace and calling Judas “friend.” This is how He loves us. So this is how we must love, this is what the new commandment, the unique commandment means in concrete terms: “Love one another.” This is Holy Thursday!
I remember – and this experience is one of those that has been indelibly etched in my heart – that one day, after preaching on this theme during a week of Parish Spiritual Exercises, I called a friend, a young man I had been mentoring for some time who had rediscovered the meaning and beauty of life through friendship, a life he had been interpreting as “garbage”! Moreover, the next day he was supposed to undergo a minor surgical procedure. Well, I called him and said: “Look, I’m preaching the Spiritual Exercises and I’m focusing on the theme ‘The disciple whom Jesus loved’. You know, right, who the disciple whom Jesus loved is?”. Do you know what he replied, catching me off guard once again, as he had done before? He replied: “It’s you!”.
He even skipped the step. Of course, the friend whom Jesus loved is John. But John we must and should be, each one of us, because it is truly so. We are the disciple whom Jesus loves. If we understood this, if we felt it, it would change our lives, it would give us a definitely greater drive leading to testimony, mission, evangelization, and martyrdom in the fullest sense of the term. Who is the disciple whom Jesus loved? It is you!
On Holy Thursday, we contemplate Jesus who gives Himself until the end: in the Eucharist, in the service of the washing of the feet, and also in the trial of betrayal. And it is precisely there that He surprises us: He calls “friend” even those who are betraying Him, just as He had called His own friends, John first, and had entrusted them with His own ministry of love and friendship “until the end”: “Do this in remembrance of me!”. Holy Thursday is not only the remembrance of the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood, but it is also the ever-new and surprising invitation to friendship with Jesus. He calls us friends and thus teaches us to love one another as He has loved us.
