John 13:18 ¶ I speak not of you all: I know whom I have
chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me
hath lifted up his heel against me. 19
Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may
believe that I am he. 20 Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that
receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. 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. 22 Then the disciples looked one on another,
doubting of whom he spake. 23 Now there
was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that
he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. 25 He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto
him, Lord, who is it? 26 Jesus answered,
He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had
dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him.
Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. 28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent
he spake this unto him. 29 For some of
them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy
those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give
something to the poor. 30 He then having
received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.
By the way, Paul, writing to the Corinthians, tells them
their insistence on women wearing long hair is a good thing. At the end of his
talk he says, though, that if anyone wants to argue, they have no such custom
or concern in the other churches. We know from the historian, Strabo, that the
hill of Corinth, or Acrocorinth, contained a thousand short-haired temple
prostitutes, so it would be important to the Corinthian Christians for their
women to have long hair to distinguish them from those temple prostitutes.
1Corinthians
11:16 But if any man seem to be
contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
I certainly do not intend to wear a robe in my daily
activities because the men of the Bible wore them in order to seem more
righteous to others nor will I swap my car for a camel or a donkey. And, men,
don’t even think about kissing me. That’s a warning.
Jesus took a piece of
unleavened bread and dipped it in the bitter broth, according to some a token
of good will much like a toast in our day, and gave it to Judas Iscariot, whom
He identified as the betrayer. As an example of a meal where food was eaten similarly,
see Ruth 2:14.
Ruth 2:14 And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou
hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat
beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was
sufficed, and left.
Satan then entered Judas, who was already prepared for his
treason, and Jesus told him to do what he must do quickly. The others assumed
that Judas was being sent on a mission peculiar to the work they did with
Christ; to get provisions or to give to the poor. And it was night.
John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me,
while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5 As
long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Paul wrote;
Romans 13:12 The
night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works
of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
1Thessalonians
5:5 Ye are all the children of light,
and the children of the day: we are not
of the night, nor of darkness.
Peter wrote;
2Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt
with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up.
As Christ’s resurrection was revealed in the morning, we are
waiting for Christ’s return for us, for the morning light to peek over the
horizon;
Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the
darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Psalm 30:4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and
give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his
favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Psalm 130:6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they
that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
2Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark
place, until the day dawn, and the day
star arise in your hearts:
We live in the night of the world, as the Hebrew day started
with the evening and then the morning (see the first chapter of Genesis).
First, there is darkness. Then, there is light. We Christians are not of the
darkness but of the light and we, of all people, are waiting for the morning
light to come.
Judas has gone to betray Christ. The die is cast, in a
manner of speaking. God’s plan to redeem mankind is about to begin in earnest.
(20) James Thomas Flexner, George Washington in the American Revolution (Boston: Little,
Brown, & Co.) 477.
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