Man, I really got ahead of myself yesterday with Hydra. I forgot that Holy Wednesday is also called Spy Wednesday, which is a perfect day for MCU Holy Week.
Spy Wednesday marks Judas’s betrayal of Jesus. Judas observed a woman in Bethany pour expensive perfume on Jesus’s head. Judas was taken aback by what he and the other disciples thought was a wasteful act. The other disciples let it go, but Matthew 26 insinuates that that wasteful act pushed Judas over the edge. Judas may have seen a missed opportunity to make money by selling the perfume and turned to the chef priests to line his pockets instead.
Judas’s name is synonymous with betrayal. He had walked with Jesus for years, yet for a mere 30 pieces of silver he threw all of that away. Vilifying Judas is easy; he betrayed the Son of Man. However, we can’t sit up too high on our horses. Each of our sins is a small betrayal and, unless we remain vigilant, we too could turn our backs on Jesus.
There are plenty of spies in the MCU upon whom we could reflect. Nick Fury, according to Tony Stark, is THE spy. Natasha Romanoff was trained as a little girl to be an incredible spy. Even Hawkeye, with his Legolas-like weaponry, is quite the spy.
When I think about Spy Wednesday and Jesus’s betrayer, though, I can only think about one person: Grant Ward.
(If you haven’t finished the first season of Agents of S.H.IE.L.D. then you may want to sign off).
When Ward turned on Coulson’s team at the end of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s first season, Alycia and I flipped our lids. I absolutely hated Ward and wanted to see every bad thing happen to him. He had been working for Hydra the entire time, taking advantage of his teammates for his own selfish benefits. And when he almost killed Fitz and Simmons, I almost threw something at the TV. I didn’t know how invested I was in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. until Ward betrayed his team. His betrayal caused a deep emotional response.
Unfortunately my small betrayals of Jesus don’t often cause me that much emotional turmoil. Sometimes it’s all too easy to turn my back on Jesus, pursue my own desires and betray my Lord and Savior. Like I wrote earlier, each of our sins is a small betrayal yet I hardly view them as such. I can burn with fiery anger when a fictional character betrays his fictional team, yet I hardly notice my own betrayals and infractions.
Our treachery may not reach the level of Judas’s, but we can’t simply dismiss it either. Jesus gave everything for us and we should be willing to give everything to him. Embracing our sin and holding back from Jesus are acts of betrayal, plain and simple. By the grace of God, though, we can see less and less of ourselves in Spy Wednesday as we trust in his transforming work in our lives.
What helps you take your betrayals of Jesus seriously?
“Spy Wednesday”? Never heard that one. Love it! But, no, I don’t love those times I know I’ve betrayed Jesus. Remembering Christ on the cross, suffering for my sin, and prayerful singing of the Agnus Dei are how I respond in worship to my awareness of my betrayals. The continuing challenge is to carry that response more and more into everyday living – going forth and sinning no more. That’s harder, because I often don’t catch myself betraying Jesus until I’ve already done it, like Peter hearing that cock crow.
Finishing out on a nerdy note, my relationship with “Agents of SHIELD” was much like yours. It took Grant’s betrayal to make me realize how much I had come to care for these folks. The second season has been a blast. I love the current arc with Edward James Olmos.