Questions about the Betrayal by Judas

Last updated on: May 13, 2015 at 12:01 am by Mark Shea

Questions about the Betrayal by Judas 2015-05-02T21:13:05-07:00 Mark Shea

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A reader writes:

I’ve been reading the gospel narratives of the Last Supper tonight, and an ongoing confusion with a part of the story has resurfaced. I thought maybe you, and your scriptural book smarts, might be able to rescue me from this quandary.

In all the gospels, Jesus tells his disciples that one of them will betray Him. When they ask Him who it is, He responds that it is the one who dips in the bowl with Him (or in the case of John, the one who he gives the morsel to). My puzzlement stems from the fact that the disciples don’t realize who it is, for surely they would, upon hearing Jesus’ description, have carefully observed each other to see who was dipping in the bowl with Jesus. And in the case of the Gospel of John, right after Jesus says it is the one who he gives the morsel to, he then hands the morsel to Judas! Why do the disciples not immediately understand that Judas will be the betrayer? Does Jesus’ description have some other meaning that I’m not aware of? Or was there some particular form of eating the bread that would have made it impossible to know? Or, well, anything?

Also, when Judas asks Jesus “Is it I, Master?” Jesus responds with “You have said so.” What on earth does that mean?

Any knowledge you might be willing to share would be greatly appreciated.

The story of Jesus giving Judas the sop is found only in the text of John 13, and the text makes it clear that only John is vouchsafed the knowledge that Judas will betray him. It is a private conversation between Jesus and the beloved disciple who was “lying close to his breast” (the Passover was done in the old fashion where the disciples were literally laying down around the table. In the synoptics, the language Jesus uses with the disciples communicates only that somebody who is eating with Jesus is the traitor.

As to “You have said so,” this is an oblique affirmative that Jesus tends use repeatedly as a way of throwing back on the questioner an appeal to think about what they are saying and doing. We have no evidence that Jesus said it to Judas publicly and plenty of reason to think that he would have said it privately. Judas, after all, knows he is the traitor and would not be eager to be exposed by inviting a public rebuke. So it is psychologically likely that the question would have been asked semi-privately particularly since we know Judas was sitting very close to Jesus. Likely, only one or two other disciples heard the exchange.

Jesus, will, by the way, give the same affirmative to Pilate when he asks if he is the King of the Jews. Jesus most emphatically does claim that title. That’s why he answers to “Son of David” and rides into Jerusalem on an ass the way the first Son of David–Solomon–had done. But in answering Pilate in this oblique way, he is saying yes to the Messianic title, while forcing Pilate to face the fact that “my kingdom is not of this world”. In Judas’ case, he is making clear that he knows what Judas intends in a last ditch effort to make room for repentance. Likewise, in giving him the sop, he is making an appeal to friendship by this gesture of honor. To the last, he treats Judas with respect and does nothing whatsoever to make Judas act with hostility. It’s all on Judas when he goes out. The sadness of “What you do, do quickly” is heartbreaking.

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