Defining moments for three people v18-38
There is a sense in these verses of things
coming to a head: Judas
v18-30; Jesus v31-35; Simon Peter v36-38
Judas decides his final destiny v18-30
“I speak not of you all; I know whom I have
chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me
hath lifted up his heel against me. Now
I tell you before it come, that when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I
am He. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he
that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me,
receiveth Him that sent me. When Jesus
had thus said, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another,
doubting of whom He spake. Now, there
was leaning on Jesus bosom one of His disciples whom Jesus loved; Simon Peter
therefore beckoned unto him, that he should ask who it should be of whom He spake.
He then lying on Jesus breast said unto Him,
Lord, who is it ? Jesus answered, he to whom I shall give the sop when I have
dipped it; and when He had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the
son of Simon. And after the sop Satan
entered into him. Then said Jesus unto
him, that thou doest do quickly. Now no
man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him; for some of them
thought because, Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, buy those
things that we have need of against the feast, or that he should give something
to the poor. He then, having received
the sop, went immediately out, and it was night.”
This awful, yet real portrayal of a man
choosing His eternal destiny, is unfolded in these verses. Judas Iscariot (literally the man from
Kerioth, a town in southern Judea) was different from the other disciples in
that he was Judean and all the others were Galilean. Jesus had already indicated to them that not
all of them were clean, v10-11; He now expands on this, in what is the sad scene
of the departure of Judas Iscariot. There is relief in this as seen in v31-35, but
no rejoicing, as this must have been a sad occasion for Jesus-He was greatly
moved by it. He knew Judas was only with
Him on sufferance, he was never truly a disciple. Jesus characterises those who are His, as “the
chosen”, and He always knew that Judas would betray Him. He was one of the apostles, but he was not a
believer. The unerring prescience of
scripture foretold that one of their number would betray Him, and so it proved.
This is taken from Psalm 41v9 where
David referred to the traitor Ahithophel, who conspired with Absalom against
David; he thus became a picture of what Judas would do to David’s greater Son. We
pause to take in the solemnity of this.
Judas was never a believer, he followed Jesus for reasons other than
faith; perhaps he saw in Him a deliverer from Roman suppression. The warning to all of us is of the hardness
of the human heart. This man had accompanied
Jesus for over three years; he had witnessed all His miracles, indeed he had
been part of the miraculous tour of Israel where they cast out demons, and
healed the sick; he heard the teachings of Jesus, he witnessed mighty deeds, he
heard gracious words. He was given a
position of trust as being the group treasurer, he was trusted implicitly by
the others. Judas surely is the
strangest of characters, did he follow Jesus to get fortune and fame, for that
is inferred? Was he cynical of Jesus, being the son of a Pharisee whom Jesus had healed of leprosy? When Jesus no longer fulfilled his ambitions,
did he decide to jump on the bandwagon of popular opinion and conspire with the
rulers who were more of his kind? God
predicted his downfall but He did not determine it, this was the choice of a
man who despised Divine privilege. He left the group and went into the night,
which was more than the darkness of night, it was eternal darkness, for that is
where he went within hours of leaving.
In the presence of Jesus, Satan entered into him and took control. This explains the insane move he made in
trading Jesus for a paltry sum of money.
Only one demon-possessed would do such a thing, selling his soul for a
pittance, which, in the end, he cast back at their feet! If this shocks us, it shocked the disciples
more and Jesus knew it. Who would not be
alarmed at the waste of a life for no return.
He was with Jesus for three years; he was one of the twelve; he had the
opportunity for greatness, but he sold it for nought. Jesus recognises the dismay and He moves
quickly to reassure them. He said He
knows the chosen, those who will remain loyal and serve Him, He reminds the
others they have been called with the highest calling, and establishes that
whoever receives them, receives Him, and whoever receives Him, receives His
Father. Despite the obvious
discouragement, they must be persuaded that Jesus was Divine, that He was
serving God, and that they were involved in the greatest of missions. To the
very end, Judas was given opportunity to repent, and even at the end he was
offered the sop of the meal, which apparently means he was singled out for
special treatment. But the decision was
made, Satan entered him, and Jesus having secretly revealed his identity, signalled
his departure-that
thou doest, do quickly!
We must ever be alive to the fact there
may be people gathering with us who are not true believers. We do not possess the ability to determine
this, but we are given pointers, “By their fruits ye shall know them”, Jesus
counselled His disciples. Whether by
fake morality or false teaching, the false disciples must be exposed, and
removed from the company.
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