DISLOYALTY

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, He said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray Me.”

They were very sad and began to say to Him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”

Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

Then Judas, the one who would betray Him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”

Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

Matthew 26:20-25

When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, He said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me.”

They were saddened, and one by one they said to Him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

“It is one of the Twelve,” He replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with Me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

Mark 14:17-21

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

But the hand of him who is going to betray Me is with Mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays Him!”

They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

Luke 22:17-18, 22b-23

“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

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we look at the last Passover meal (or any other meal, for that matter) that Jesus would share with His disciples, I wonder what they were thinking going in.

I mean, Jesus had told them that He would die soon and then be raised from the dead on the third day after but I’m not sure His followers fully grasped the situation at hand. In fact, maybe only Judas knew just how close Jesus was to being arrested and placed on the road to His execution. After all, he had already agreed to be a part of the plot conceived by the Jewish religious authorities.

I feel the disciples were approaching this Passover like any of the others they had shared with Jesus. And note that it was Jesus Himself who made sure they knew it was not business as usual. For as they reclined and dined, He let them know His days were coming to an end:

“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” Luke 22:15-16

And then He dropped this bombshell on them:

“Truly I tell you, one of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me.” Mark 14:18

And in John’s Gospel, we find Him adding this right before:

“I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am.” John 13:19

Jesus, who could see inside the hearts of His disciples, knew well that Judas had agreed to betray Him. When it happened, the other eleven disciples would remember Jesus’ words and fully know He possessed special power to know the future before it happened. But what I think is interesting here is that Jesus doesn’t call Judas out from the very beginning. Rather, His statement causes unease among all the Twelve, each individual disciple left to ponder whether or not he was the one that Jesus was talking about. Sometimes I think He was getting them all to self reflect in regard to their loyalty to Him but one thing’s for sure, they were certainly left awash in confusion off what He said. In fact, the scriptures tell us that they “stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them He meant.”   

The suspense was killing the Twelve and so they asked Jesus who He was talking about. Essentially, they asked for Him to reveal the betrayer. Not exactly providing a solid answer, Jesus responded in a couple ways as we see in the gospel accounts:

“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen.” John 13:18

“It is one of the Twelve, one who dips bread into the bowl with Me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Mark 14:20-21

Here we see that Jesus wanted His disciples to know that they all weren’t guilty of turning on Him but He did want the betrayer to know that their devious work would not change His destiny but it would sure change theirs. And indeed, we know Judas was led by Satan right down the road of self destruction as Jesus was crucified.

And with this, it was time to reveal who was disloyal. We turn to John’s gospel to read of the great exposure, revealed by a piece of dipped bread:

Jesus answered (based on the question as to who the betrayer was), “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.” John 13:26-27

Now the Twelve knew what Jesus had known before the identity of His betrayer was made known.

It was Judas who now was exposed and as soon as he received the fateful piece of dipped bread, we read where Satan entered into him but frankly, I think Satan had been partnering with Judas all along. He is always an accomplice wherever sin is present and we know Judas had been stealing from the money bag used by Jesus and the other eleven for some time now. Satan entering in wasn’t anything new but it showed where Judas’ loyalty was at and it wasn’t Jesus.

And so Judas departed the company of Jesus and the other disciples. We know it was night out and we also know that soon he would carry out the sinful act of selling out His Master Jesus at Gethsemane’s garden. It would go down in history as one of the greatest acts of disloyalty known and when people think about traitorous men, Judas seems to be the name that comes to mind quickly.

In fact, Judas is an easy target, right?

We go after him with great ease as if we have never sinned against our Lord and Savior ourselves, as if we have always been perfectly loyal to Jesus in our own lives.

You see, this scripture passage has a deeper purpose than just telling a story about Jesus’ betrayer. Like the other eleven disciples, we are forced to wonder whether or not we are the ones who have betrayed our Lord. It’s an uncomfortable place to be but then again, this is the very nature of conviction. We’re supposed to be uncomfortable.

So as we watch Judas sulk away into the night with Satan by his side, ready to carry out what he was paid to do by the Jewish religious authorities, we need to watch ourselves with just as much intent and make sure that Satan doesn’t enter into us and lead us away from our Savior, the Way and the Truth and the Life.

For loyalty requires a strength and power that none of us possess on our own. But as Paul writes, we can do all things through Christ’s strength within us (Philippians 4:13) and this includes warding off the advances of our enemy who would seek to lead us off into darkness, placing us on the same path of destruction traveled by the great betrayer of Jesus, Judas Iscariot.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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