"Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."
Jesus was well aware of what Judas was planning. It was not a surprise to him. Even such evil as the betrayal of a friend could work for the good of one who loved God and was called according to his purpose (see Romans 8:28). Being too direct about it too soon might well prevent that betrayal. As discreet and clever as Judas thought he was, it was only because it was part of the plan of God and foreseen by him that it was allowed to happen. There had been other attempts to take Jesus before his hour came, and none of these was successful. But here, at the intended time, he would offer no resistance. Judas betrayed Jesus for his own reasons. Perhaps he was frustrated with the way Jesus was carrying out his mission or perhaps it was something else. Whatever his purpose was, however he rationalized it, it was in fact evil. But Jesus took up his evil purpose into the higher purpose of human salvation.
"Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."
Because Jesus was ambiguous about the identity of the traitor it forced the other disciples to introspection. They all asked, "Is it I, Lord?" (see Matthew 26:22). This effect was not unintended by Jesus. He knew the hearts of men and what they contained. He knew that the same treacherous impulses of Judas lurked in the hearts of all, though each had a different trigger. Did the disciples really look deeply within themselves though, or was it more that they were worried that Jesus might believe it to be them, and that they wanted to exonerate themselves? Did they only ask if it was them as a way to insist that it was them? Certainly that is what Judas meant when he gave that same answer. Thus piety can actually become pretense which blinds us to what is lurking in the depths of our hearts. We act as though we could not be the traitor, and even our own introspection is designed to show that we are innocent. But if even Peter could still betray Jesus after all that had happened between them, how can any of us feel so smugly certain that we will not?
Jesus answered,
"It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it."
Was Jesus being indirect about the answer only to ensure that his Passion happened on schedule? Certainly that was one reason. But we see also that he was willing to fellowship with Judas until the very last, until Judas himself disappeared into the night. Perhaps Jesus was giving Judas every possible opportunity to repent even all the while knowing he would not. If this was true it was heartbreaking. It seemed that this last gesture of friendship from Jesus, handing the morsel to Judas, was for Judas the moment when he fully resolved to do as he had determined. Jesus held out a hand of fellowship, but in feigning to receive it, Judas committed to his plan of betrayal.
Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
Jesus said that the Son of Man was glorified precisely, "Now", and not only at the resurrection. It was on Good Friday that he demonstrated the greatest possible love, for us, and for his Father. His trusting obedience to the plan of the Father, when he might simply have called in an army of angels, glorified the Father and affirmed the goodness of his plan. But because Jesus glorified the Father in this way it was inevitable that his Father would return the favor, and that at once. He gave his life to the Father and in return the Father would glorify him in his resurrection.
Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?"
Jesus answered him,
"Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
though you will follow later."
We can only follow the path after Jesus has opened it to us. We cannot go alongside him to the cross. We can only go where he has first gone. When we try to imitate Jesus out of self-will and imagined self-sufficiency we quickly find ourselves tempted to betray Jesus, when our strength runs out, and our lives, or at least our reputations, are at risk. But where Jesus has gone he gives us the power to follow. This is especially true during this Holy Week, in which we are meant not only to watch what Jesus did for us, but are in fact given the grace to enter into it, following him all the way to Calvary and beyond.
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