Matthew 26:20-25 20When evening came, he reclined at table with the twelve. 21And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22And being greatly sorrowful they began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23And answering he said, “The one who has dipped his hand in the bowl with me will betray me. 24The Son of Man goes away as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been better for him if that man had not been born.” 25And answering, Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it not I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said.”
The theme of Jesus’ betrayal continues. The other eleven do not know that Judas has made plans to betray Jesus. The seed of sin in his heart has sprouted and grown. Jesus knew what was in Judas’ heart. He used the Passover meal as a teaching opportunity for the disciples and a last opportunity for Judas to recognize the dangerous and detrimental course he was on. It must have been quite a shock for the other eleven when Jesus announced that one of them would betray him. Becoming greatly sorrowful is an understatement. They may have had high hopes that Jesus would restore Israel’s glory and launch a new kingdom. And now, Jesus tells them of betrayal. They take turns asking which one was the betrayer. Instead of pointing fingers at another disciple, each one wonders if he is the one. Would they not have the assurance and faith or did each one of them have some doubt or fear? Which one would it be?
Jesus gives a clue that the betrayer would dip his hand in the Passover bowl with him. The challenge is that likely every one of them had done this. The betrayer was one of his closest followers who had spent years with him. Jesus may have intentionally made his answer vague so that Judas would confess. Jesus’ pronouncement of woe is one of the saddest statements in the Bible. Judas did not have to follow the way of sin. After Jesus’ statement in verse 24, Judas must have had no doubt about the outcome of his decision. But sin blinds us to its consequences. We tend to live in the moment. Sometimes sin traps us and compels us to act in ways that “on a good day,” we might not.
Something stirred in Judas’ heart with his question, Is it I? His title for Jesus gives a further clue about the depth of his depravity. Rabbi was a title of honor for a teacher. Judas may have only seen Jesus as a good teacher and not as the Messiah and Savior of the world. Judas had not really come to the point of faith. His ideas about Jesus were only intellectual and not from the heart. His question was actually a confession of his sin, as Jesus’ last statement acknowledges. Sadly, however, he did not confess this sin and reverse course. His mind was made up. His selfishness had clouded the call of love and faith.
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