A reader writes:<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t realize who it is, for surely they would, upon hearing Jesus\u2019 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\u2019 description have some other meaning that I\u2019m not aware of? Or was there some particular form of eating the bread that would have made it impossible to know? Or, well, anything?<\/p>\n
Also, when Judas asks Jesus \u201cIs it I, Master?\u201d Jesus responds with \u201cYou have said so.\u201d What on earth does that mean?<\/p>\n
Any knowledge you might be willing to share would be greatly appreciated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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.\u00a0 It is a private conversation between Jesus and the beloved disciple who was \u201clying close to his breast\u201d (the Passover was done in the old fashion where the disciples were literally laying down around the table.\u00a0 In the synoptics, the language Jesus uses with the disciples communicates only that somebody who is eating with Jesus is the traitor.<\/p>\n
As to \u201cYou have said so,\u201d 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. \u00a0Judas, after all, knows he is the traitor and would not be eager to be exposed by inviting a public rebuke. \u00a0So it is psychologically likely that the question would have been asked semi-privately particularly since we know Judas was sitting very close to Jesus. \u00a0Likely, only one or two other disciples heard the exchange.<\/p>\n
Jesus, will, by the way, give the same affirmative to Pilate when he asks if he is the King of the Jews.\u00a0 Jesus most emphatically does claim that title.\u00a0 That\u2019s why he answers to \u201cSon of David\u201d and rides into Jerusalem on an ass the way the first Son of David\u2013Solomon\u2013had done.\u00a0 But in answering Pilate in this oblique way, he is saying yes to the Messianic title, while forcing Pilate to face the fact that \u201cmy kingdom is not of this world\u201d.\u00a0 In Judas\u2019 case, he is making clear that he knows what Judas intends in a last ditch effort to make room for repentance.\u00a0 Likewise, in giving him the sop, he is making an appeal to friendship by this gesture of honor.\u00a0 To the last, he treats Judas with respect and does nothing whatsoever to make<\/strong>\u00a0Judas act with hostility.\u00a0 It\u2019s all on Judas when he goes out. The sadness of \u201cWhat you do, do quickly\u201d is heartbreaking.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A reader writes: I\u2019ve 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8,650,306],"class_list":["post-92431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-mailbag","tag-na","tag-scripture"],"yoast_head":"\n
Questions about the Betrayal by Judas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"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\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Questions about the Betrayal by Judas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-13T07:01:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-05-03T04:13:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html\",\"name\":\"Questions about the Betrayal by Judas\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-13T07:01:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-03T04:13:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\"},\"description\":\"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\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Questions about the Betrayal by Judas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\",\"description\":\"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\",\"name\":\"Mark Shea\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Shea\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Questions about the Betrayal by Judas","description":"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","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Questions about the Betrayal by Judas","og_description":"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","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html","og_site_name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","article_published_time":"2015-05-13T07:01:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-05-03T04:13:05+00:00","author":"Mark Shea","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Shea","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html","name":"Questions about the Betrayal by Judas","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-05-13T07:01:52+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-03T04:13:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5"},"description":"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","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/05\/questions-about-the-betrayal-by-judas.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Questions about the Betrayal by Judas"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/","name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","description":"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5","name":"Mark Shea","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Shea"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92431\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}