Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. --Psalm 41:9
Some people are naive.
We may love them for always seeing the best in people, for trusting people to a fault. But we laugh at them when their naivete allows them to be pranked. The group may know something that our poor clueless friend does not know, and the sweet, innocent soul can be led into a situation that is both funny and tragic.
The same thing happens the first time a person sees a popular movie or reads a best-selling book. Everyone knows what is going to happen, because they've seen the end. When the first-time reader is shocked at how the plot twists or how the story takes an unexpected turn, those of us familiar with the story may ask, "How did you not see that coming?"
I think a lot of people who have read the Gospels all their lives, and know how the story ends, look at the story of Judas and ask, "How did the disciples not know? Didn't they see the clues? It was right there in front of them!"
But when things are happening in real time, we don't always know what's going on until we look back and reflect on it awhile. Crash victims will often hear the question, "Didn't you see the oncoming car?" The answer is always, "It happened so fast."
Keep this in mind when we read our Bible text today from John 13. The disciples are listening to Jesus speak to them.
"I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scriptures may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.' Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He. Most assuredly I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sends Me." When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me." Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke. Then, leaning back on Jesus' breast, he said to Him, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it." And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly." But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, "Buy those things we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor. Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night. --John 13:18-30
At this point in the story, all 12 disciples had been with Jesus for about three years. They had traveled together, eaten together, and heard Jesus's teachings together. They had heard Jesus preach to the crowds, they had seen Him being accused by the Pharisees and leaders of the synagogues, but they had also received private instruction and training in the Scriptures, hearing things that Jesus said only to them. They had been sent out in teams of two to preach and perform miracles in multiple places (see Mark 6:7-13, Luke 9:1-2). They had come back together amazed at how God had worked through each of them. And now, in this intimate setting of sharing a meal together, Jesus had washed their feet.
They thought that they knew each other pretty well by this point.
So when they heard Jesus talking about knowing whom He had chosen, they were taking notes. They probably even thought, "Hey, He's talking about us." They were listening intently but missing the point. It was only after the Resurrection that they looked back at this moment and thought, "Oh, I see!"
Jesus told them that the Scriptures (the Old Testament) had foretold of a betrayal, and He quoted Psalm 41:9 to them. He followed up by telling them, "I'm telling you this now so when it happens, you'll understand." I can imagine most of them nodding their heads in agreement and not having a clue what He meant. We know they were all taking notes, because Jesus's next words are recorded in all four Gospels. "He who receives you receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me." Commentator David Guzik writes, "Jesus reminded all His disciples -- the faithful ones and Judas -- that His work was not finished. Judas would not win; the work of Jesus would continue and they would be sent as His representatives. He also wanted Judas to know that rejecting Him meant rejecting the God who sent Jesus."
At this point it is probably a good idea to pause and review what's happening here, especially in the positioning and posture of Jesus and the disciples. At the time, formal meals (weddings and feasts) were served at a table with people sitting in chairs, much like we do today. However, in more intimate meals, the table was low, and the diners would recline on pillows or cushions. They would prop themselves up on the left elbow and use their right hands to reach for the food and feed themselves. They would lie on their bellies, more on the left side, so that they could see and converse with those around the table.
It is also worth noting that John was reclining to Jesus's right. This brings to mind the time when John and his brother James came to Jesus, at the urging of their mother, to ask Jesus if they could sit at His right and His left when He comes into His kingdom in Mark 10. Here John is seen reclining to Jesus's right side, with Judas reclining at His left. Keep this picture in your mind's eye as we read the next passage.
Jesus becomes troubled in His spirit and tells the group flat out that one of them will betray Him. No hiding it in flowery or prophetic language. He would be betrayed, not by the world or by someone outside the group, but by one of the chosen reclining at table with Him. Matthew and Luke both say that the disciples broke into chatter, all asking the same introspective question: "It is I?"
Wherever Peter was positioned at the table, he gets John's attention, as John was the one closest to Jesus. He motions for John to ask Jesus who He was talking about. Remember that John is leaning on his left arm, so it would be awkward for him to turn his head to the left. It is also worth remembering that John was likely still a teenager, maybe only 18 or 19--not the most mature one at the table that night.
So instead of rolling onto his stomach and turning his head to address Jesus directly, he feels close enough to Jesus to roll onto His back, placing his head on Jesus's chest. Looking up into Jesus's face (which would be upside-down in his present view) he asks, "Lord, who is it?"
John speaks of himself in the third person. He doesn't say "I" or "me" but calls himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved." He must have felt a special closeness and intimacy with Jesus that the other, more mature and austere disciples, did not necessarily feel. Oh, that we today would feel that same closeness and intimacy with Jesus. We should feel so comfortable with Jesus that we can lay our head on His breast and ask Him our most pressing question.
The other disciples are still talking amongst themselves, because none of them seem to hear Jesus's answer. Jesus tells John how He will show who the betrayer is. Jesus picks up a piece of bread, dips it in a dressing or sauce, and hands it to Judas on His left. This would have required Jesus to roll onto His belly so that He could look at Judas directly. When this happened, the disciples became quiet. They saw Him give the bread dipped in sauce or dressing to Judas.
Bible scholar NT Wright says this:
Dipping a piece of bread in the dish and passing it to someone was a sign of special friendship. This was the sign Jesus employed to tell the beloved disciple not only that it was Judas who was going to do the awful deed, but what the deepest dimension of that deed would be. It was a betrayal of intimate, close trust and friendship. John had already told us that the devil had put the idea into Judas' mind to betray Jesus. Now he tells us that when Jesus gave Judas the bread, 'the satan' entered into him.
Dipping the bread and passing it to someone was an honor. Think of it as a toast in today's culture. When Jesus said to Judas, "Go, hurry, do what you need to do," the disciples immediately thought of Judas as the group's treasurer. They all thought that Jesus was telling Judas to go settle accounts with the owner of the house who had allowed them to all come and eat there. Another possibility in their minds was that Jesus was telling Judas to go and make a charitable contribution, as giving alms was customary in that culture.
Here's where being in the moment when things were moving so fast blurred the truth from the disciples. Peter wanted to know who Jesus was talking about with this betrayal business. He motioned to John to ask Jesus directly. When John asks Jesus, Jesus says it would be the one that He shows honor to. Jesus then toasts Judas and tells him to go do it quickly. Don't you think that if Peter realized that Judas was the betrayer, he would have stopped Judas? Instead, they all assumed that Jesus had told Judas to go make a payment or a contribution.
John says that Satan entered Judas. Again from NT Wright:
John does not, I think, mean that Judas became 'demon-possessed' in the same way as those unfortunate characters we meet from time to time in the other gospels. The word 'satan' in Hebrew means 'accuser'; it's a legal term for someone who brings a prosecution, a charge, against someone else. What we are now to witness is Judas being used by the forces of darkness to bring a charge against Jesus, the messenger of the light. The confrontation between light and darkness, which has been hanging over the gospel story since the Prologue (John 1:5), is coming to its climax. And Judas has been willing to enlist among the forces of darkness. The end of verse 30 (and it was night) is one of John's master-touches as a storyteller. The door opens on to the dark night, in every sense and at every level, and Judas disappears into it.
Darkness versus light. The accuser versus the Redeemer. Evil versus good.
Which will you choose?
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