Context No. 2787 of 4322 · John
Context · Reflection
John 13:26-30: in context
26Jesus therefore answered, “It is he to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” 28Now nobody at the table knew why he said this to him. 29For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus said to him, “Buy what things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30Therefore having received that morsel, he went out immediately. It was night.
At the last supper Jesus reveals his betrayer by an act of intimacy: he will hand the man a piece of bread dipped in the dish, the gesture of a host honoring a favored guest. He dips it and gives it to Judas. And John records the terrible turn: after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus simply says, what you are going to do, do quickly. No one else at the table understands.
The tragedy is wrapped in tenderness. Jesus offers Judas the host's morsel of favor, one last extended hand of friendship, and Judas takes the bread and rises to betray him. The very moment that could have turned him back becomes the moment the darkness takes hold. He goes out at once, and John adds three heavy words that mean far more than the hour: it was night. Judas walks out of the light of that table into a dark of his own choosing.
When Christ offers me one more piece of bread, one more chance to turn back, do I take it as love, or take it and walk out into the night?
Sources
- John 13:27: "After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, What you do, do quickly."
- Psalm 41:9: "Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me."
- Luke 22:48: "Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"