Holy Wednesday

On Wednesday we commemorate the woman that was a sinner, who anointed Christ's feet as He sat in the house of Simon. In the hymnography of the day, the account in Matthew 26:6-13 is combined with that in Luke 7:36-50 (also John 12:1-8). A second theme is the agreement made by Judas with the Jewish authorities: the repentance of the sinful harlot is contrasted with tragic fall of the chosen disciple. The Triodion makes it clear that Judas perished, not simply because he betrayed his Master, but because, having fallen into the sin of betrayal, he then refused to believe in the possibility of forgiveness: 'In misery he lost his life, preferring a noose rather than repentance.' If we deplore the actions of Judas, we do so not with vindictive self-righteousness but conscious always of our own guilt: 'Deliver our souls, O Lord, from the condemnation that was his.' In general, all the passages in the Triodion that seem to be directed against the Jews should be understood in this same way. When the Triodion denounces those who rejected Christ and delivered Him to death, we recognize that these words apply not only to others, but to ourselves: for have we not betrayed the Savior many times in our hearts and crucified Him afresh?