"Betrayal: Hot and Cold" - Matthew 26:47-56 - (February 26, 2023 - 1st Sunday in Lent)

<p>In the 14th century, Dante Alighieri wrote an epic poem called the <em>Divine Comedy</em>. The first poem to be read on Maundy Thursday is entitled <em>Inferno</em>. You’ve probably heard of Dante’s <em>Inferno. </em>Subsequent chapters include <em>purgatory </em>and <em>paradise. </em>In <em>Inferino</em>, Dante has a system of “hot” and “cold” for sins as well. He reserves the innermost circle of hell for betrayers. He puts Judas’s soul there. But surprisingly, Dante doesn’t surround his soul with flames. For Dante, the center of hell is “ice cold.” He places Judas into a lake of ice. His plight is to spend eternity frozen in the ice, because he had such a frozen heart when he lived. &nbsp;Are sins hot or cold? &nbsp;Listen in....</p>