Jesus Predicts His Betrayal
JESUS PREDICTS HIS BETRAYAL
JOHN 13:21-30
Betrayal and denial are a tragic response to Jesus’ love for his disciples.
There have been a number of allusions in this chapter to the traitor. Now Jesus, in distress of spirit, confronts the disciples openly with this fact. He solemnly asserts that one of them would betray him. “One of us? Surely not! Who on earth could it be?” Peter is determined to find out, so he asks the beloved disciple to ask Jesus. Because of his position of closeness to the Lord (literally “in his bosom”—cf. 1:18) he is able to ask him. Jesus tells him that it is the person to whom he will give a morsel of bread. So Jesus hands it to Judas. As such an action showed that the recipient was an honored guest, this was in effect a last appeal to Judas as well as an indication to John of the identity of the traitor.
If there had been any chance of a change of heart from Judas, it now disappears. Satan takes possession of him. So Jesus bids him do his deed quickly, as the agony of the last struggle comes increasingly upon him. Apparently Judas was not suspected by the others, who simply thought Jesus was sending him on an errand. In an action full of tragic symbolism Judas went out from the room, from the circle of the disciples, from the presence of the Savior of the world (cf. 1 John 2:18f.). No wonder, as he turned his back on the Light of the World, it was night! (cf. 3:19). Divine love could go no further. Pursued to the very end by the love of Christ and yet still free to choose, Judas is typical of every man.
Notes 13:21: while John does not record the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, he emphasizes as much as the other evangelists the tremendous pressure there was upon Jesus as he prepared himself to bear the sin of the world. 13:23: we assume that “the beloved disciple,” named here for the first time, is John. (See Introduction.) 13:26: it seems likely that Judas occupied the place of honor on the left of Jesus and that is why he was able to give him the morsel. This is, however, by no means sure. 13:29: this does not necessarily mean that the Passover had not begun, for the feast lasted for seven days.