And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. (Matt. 26:21-25). And in the evening he cometh with the twelve. And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I? And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish. The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born. (Mark 14:17-21). 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. (John 13:21).
From John 13:21, we must turn back to Matthew 26:21-25 or to Mark 14:17-21 to follow the events in sequence. Following the exhortation of the Lord, and his challenge that one of them would betray him, the time for self-examination had come. Thus the pattern set in the upper room is similar to that in most ecclesias. As a congregation should give itself to meditation and self-examination on a Sunday morning following the exhortation and before partaking of the bread and wine, so it was with the Apostles. Each one began to search his heart as to whether he was the betrayer Jesus had in mind, and if so, in what way would he betray him.
"Is It I?" The Apostles heard with consternation, the Lord's declaration that one of them would betray him. The record says that they were "exceeding sorrowful," but the word in the Greek (sphodra) signifies to be excessively, or violently, moved. It comes from a root indicating restlessness. The Apostles squirmed in their seats, as they searched their hearts, to see whether there was any hidden sin there, any aspect of disloyalty against their Lord. Puzzled faces were turned in his direction, and one after the other asked the question:
All except one: Judas! For the time, he remained silent. The Lord declared:
They are words of ominous intent! How they must have struck home at Judas! But he had gone too far. He was now hardened in his course and, possibly, no longer believed in the Lord. But he had to go through the motions of an innocent man. All the others had enquired, "Lord, is it I?" and now the voice of Judas was about to swell the chorus. The hypocrite, however, changed the form of the question. The 11 addressed Jesus as "Lord" or "Master," but not so Judas. He addressed him as "Rabbi" or "Teacher," translated "Master" in Matthew 26:25 (ct. v.22). In the mouth of Judas, it was an impudent and hypocritical title. He did not accept Jesus as his Teacher; but considered him a fraud, and had already agreed to procure his arrest. With the others looking on, however, and knowing in his heart that he would betray Christ, he had to cover up with the same question, though prefaced with a different title:
The others evidently did not hear or understand this, for the exchange had followed the words of Jesus which the 11 were trying to thoughtfully absorb. Judas was probably taken aback by the frank answer, and possibly wondered how much the Lord knew, but there was nothing he was prepared to do about it. No other comment was made, as the Apostles continued with the evening meal. |
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