Confronting Betrayal

“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’

“I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”

His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”

Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

Jesus  answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night. John 13:18-30 NIV

Jesus had stated earlier that the disciples were clean, “but not all of you.” He said again: “I am not referring to all of you..”

Jesus Christ is God. His essence is the same as that of the Father. His omniscience knows the end from the beginning. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He knew from the time He accepted Judas as a disciple that Judas would not believe in Him as Savior, and would betray Him. This is difficult for us to grasp, but we can learn a great deal from both the situation and the personalities involved. Jesus knew everything about the men He had chosen, and that one was a traitor.

Quoting Psalm 41:9: “Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.” 

Jesus announced that from here on, He would prepare them ahead of time for what was coming, so they would understand His deity (“I Am who I Am”). Only omniscience knows the future.

Apparently Judas was the only other one in the room who knew who He was talking about. That’s because Judas was the subject. Speaking this truth to His men was troubling for Jesus. He is also human, and Judas had been with them for these three years. Also, it meant the time of His atonement was almost here. This was what Jesus came to do, willingly, for fallen humanity, and He always knew it would not be easy. The men with Him, and we, could not possibly understand His anguish at this time.

Like small children, the men started to question Him about it. Uh-Oh. What does He mean? Who can it be? Surely it is not I? Interestingly, they didn’t immediately suspect Judas. This means Judas had all of them hoodwinked. It is commonly believed that Judas, as a man, was a good man. No bad habits. A nice guy, who inspired others’ confidence. They allowed him to be their treasurer, if you please. No one suspected him of thievery until after this exposure. Jesus had apparently made no difference in His dealings with Judas during their ministry. He went on the evangelism tours and exercised the “gifts” Jesus had authorized in them, as far as we can know. It was not their own personal faith, but the authority of Jesus that made those gifts work, because they were representing Him. Furthermore, Jesus had just washed Judas’ feet along with the others. His grace knows no limits. It is the unbelief of the sinner that prevents his salvation.

Jesus took the sop, told them the one receiving it was the traitor, and presented the bread to Judas, who took it and was immediately emboldened by Satan.

“Do it quickly,” Jesus said, and Judas went out. The eleven were still dumbfounded. They thought, since Judas had the money, Jesus was sending him on a purchasing errand, or a benevolence mission.

Of the many lessons here, one stands out to me. You cannot tell by a person’s appearance or behavior pattern whether he is a believer or not. As we saw in Galatians 5, it is the Holy Spirit Who produces the fruit of love in the believer. It is entirely the work of the Spirit, not human good, that accomplishes God’s will and receives reward. A favorite Bible teacher of mine used to say “if an unbeliever can do it, it is not the Christian Way of Life.”  When we think that through, an unbeliever can do most of the overt things that are deemed by others to be divine production. The difference is, the unbeliever does not have eternal life and is not amassing eternal rewards. Whatever his motive, it is not to do God’s will.

Judas was a nice guy, but he was the embodiment of evil. His fellow disciples did not know that until he was exposed by Jesus, Who knows all. We don’t need to speculate about who is or is not real in the faith. We need to make certain our own faith is real, and the Lord will sort it all out at the proper time.

Judas took the bread and went out.

And it was night.